Seventeen-year-old Cécile spends a restless summer on the French Riviera with her widowed father, Raymond, and his current mistress, Elsa. Their indulgent lifestyle of sunlight and shallow flirtation is interrupted by the arrival of Anne, a disciplined and sophisticated friend of Cécile’s late mother. When Raymond decides to marry Anne, Cécile fears the loss of her hedonistic freedom and the imposition of moral order. She engineers a psychological trap using Elsa and a local suitor to spark Anne's jealousy, leading to a fatal emotional collapse.
This novel attracts readers interested in cold psychological observation and the moral ambiguity of adolescence. It provides a clinical look at how boredom and vanity can drive a young person to destroy others’ lives without immediate remorse. Readers walk away with a stark portrait of the transition from childhood innocence to a cynical, adult understanding of grief. Many return to this text to study the specific sensory details of mid-century Mediterranean life and the internal logic of a calculated betrayal.
Inward-looking and thought-provoking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1954
- Language
- EN
