The Illusionist

Bored and lonely, 15-year-old Helene decides to pay a visit to her father's mistress. Within days, she is captivated by Tamara, a Russian emigre whose arts of enchantment include lingering kisses, sudden dismissals, and savage, rapturous reunions. As long as she submits to Tamara, Helene is permitted to stay near reading forbidden novels, meeting Tamara's bohemian friends, and learning more "refinements of depravity" than the gossiping matrons of her provincial French town could imagine existed.Flemish writer Francoise Mallet-Joris was 20 years old in 1951 when her first novel, " Le Rempart des Beguines" -- published in English as" The Illusionist" -- created a sensation in France. This contemplative, beautifully written book, with its dark undercurrents of desire, has its origins in" Madame Bovary" and the novels of Colette, and was a precursor to Francoise Sagan's similarly themed" Bonjour Tristesse."