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Literature & Fiction

The American Woman in the Chinese Hat

The American Woman in the Chinese Hat

â€œAn intense, incantatory, erotic novel . . . An exquisitely calibrated evocation of longing and lust.â€â€”Vogue
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Abandoned by her lover of ten years and devastated by the painful death of her brother, an American writer named Catherine comes to live and heal her wounds in the lush, crisp, light-dappled French Riviera. But the sensual magic of summertime only underscores Catherineâ€™s longing, as she falls deeper and deeper into an irretrievable madness. With passionate abandon and detachment, Catherine pursues her own destruction through brief but irresistible sexual encounters with an Arlesian woman, a fireman, a poet, and three thieves, until she meets Lucien, a man who looks as if he â€œstepped out of an unmade film by dead Truffant,â€ and who she senses to be her match in solitude and beauty. Through this mysterious, doomed, bittersweet liaison Catherine makes one last attempt to halt her decline, only to face the shattering, inevitable conclusion of this mesmerizing drama of sex, betrayal, and dissolution.
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Author Carole Masoâ€™s nuanced storytelling manipulates language with the graceful precision of a stained glass artisanâ€”refracting reality, casting light, and dazzling with color the erotic adventures of a woman and the inner life of an artist inspired and doomed by desire.
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â€œGorgeous . . . an outpouring of passion.â€â€”San Francisco Chronicle
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â€œTerse, musical and hypnotic . . . Maso tracks with horrifying authenticity the downward spiral of Catherineâ€™s depression.â€â€”Los Angeles Times
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â€œA fever dream of love and sanctuary.â€â€”Elle
Country USA
Brand Penguin
Manufacturer Penguin Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber RKC2009093499
Color Black
ReleaseDate 1995-10-01
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780452275072

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