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Mademoiselle S., identified here only as Simone, was a well-educated and cultured lady living in Paris at the height of the glamorous roaring twenties. Simone's letters to her married lover Charles express her desires, fears, anxieties and fantasies, and through them we become intimately acquainted with an extraordinary woman whose sexual appetite knew no bounds, and with an obsessive and destructive love that was taken to extremes.
Driven to increasing lengths to gain satisfaction, Simone may be seen as a woman ahead of her time, whose unconventional attitude challenges our preconceptions of female sexuality during this era, and was ultimately her downfall.
The Passion of Mademoiselle S. paints a vivid portrait of a violently passionate love affair that evolves in shocking and unexpected ways. Framed by illuminating insights from their editor, Jean-Yves Berthault, this correspondence opens a window into another time and another life, and a woman whose voice echoes down the century and still resonates
About the author
Jean-Yves Berthault is a French diplomat, fluent English speaker, and has worked professionally around the world. In 2012, when helping a close friend clear out her cellar in Paris, he stumbled upon an old attaché case buried deep beneath a high pile of discarded newspapers. Opening it, he discovered it was crammed full of letters dating from 1928, written by a woman who we shall call Simone. This was the start of a two-year project in which he collated the letters into chronological order and added historical and cultural footnotes. The letters are now a testament to a unique love affair and to a moment in history.
Summary
Simone's letters to her married lover Charles express her desires, fears, anxieties and fantasies, and through them we become intimately acquainted with an extraordinary woman whose sexual appetite knew no bounds, and with an obsessive and destructive love that was taken to extremes.
Foreword
A collection of long lost love letters from 1928 to 1930, recently discovered in a dusty cellar in Paris.
