In Confidence
2016
First Published
3.79
Average Rating
44
Number of Pages
A collection of short stories by world-renowned author, Irène Némirovsky, newly translated into English by Eoin Bates and Sandrine Brisset. This is a book about women's secret appetites. In this collection of short stories, Irène Némirovsky, the author of Suite Française, delves into the female psyche and explores a multitude of secrets and hidden desires: the old American pianist confessing to the murder of her unfaithful husband, the teacher who never got over her teenage heart-break, the wealthy landlady tempted by an affair with her mysterious tenant, the married Parisian longing for adultery and so on. Just like Suite Française, In Confidence explores the many shapes of greed and betrayal. In "Lunch in September" two long-term friends drive out of Paris to share a mid-day meal in a gastronomic restaurant. Desire is reciprocated but remains undeclared and rather than engaging in the transgression of adultery, Raymond Cazeneuve has long decided to favour food over sexual fulfilment. Savouring his meal, he exclaims: 'This is better than love!' He invites his best friend's wife, Thérèse Dallas to a chaste carnal feast, 'Touching her rings but not her skin'. Strongly influenced by Guy de Maupassant, just like in 'Dumpling' ('Boule de Suif'), Némirovsky depicts characters devouring each other by proxy. Raymond and Thérèse are being physically consumed through the food they share and as they progress through their meal, the narrator slowly discloses that both of them have aged and lost the beauty and freshness of their youth. The more they eat the more derelict and worn-out their bodies appear to the reader. In the end of the meal, Thérèse takes out her mirror to powder her face: 'blew lightly on the tarnished surface and looked at herself. She saw a face that had grown pale. Underneath the powder, which had now faded away, the blusher on her cheekbones had turned into a garish stain.She saw her puffy cheeks, her weary eyes, her wrinkles...'
Avg Rating
3.79
Number of Ratings
14
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