Book description
The Napoleonic Wars are over. Octave, a young Parisian, loves his
mistress Elise - until he witnesses her being unfaithful. In despair, he
descends into decadence and libertinism. However, the death of his
father takes Octave to the countryside where he falls in love with
Brigitte, a young widow who spends most of her time caring for others.
At first, Brigitte tries to resist his advances, but eventually they
become lovers. Octave, however, is quickly overcome by suspicion. Will
Brigitte remain true to him? Doesn't every woman betray her lover sooner
or later?
Alfred de Musset was born in 1810 in Paris. He attempted careers in
medicine, law and drawing before publishing his first collection of
poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829). He subsequently
wrote numerous plays, and the erotic novel Gamiani, or Two Nights
of Excess (1833) is sometimes attributed to him. From 1833 to
1835, he had an affair with the novelist George Sand, which became the
basis for his most famous novel La Confession d'un Enfant du Si cle
(1836). Sand herself also fictionalized the affair in her
novel Elle et lui. Musset died in 1857 and was buried in P re
Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
David Coward is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of
Leeds. He won a Scott-Moncrieff prize for his edition of Albert
Cohen's Belle du Seigneur, and has also translated Moli re for
Penguin Classics.
