Cheri (eBook)

Cheri, first published in 1920, is considered Colette's finest novel. Exquisitely handsome, spoilt and sardonic, Chri is the only son of a wealthy courtesan, a contemporary of La, the magnificent and talented woman who for six years has devoted herself to his amorous education. When a rich marriage is arranged for Chri, La reluctantly decides their relationship must end. Chri, despite his apparent detachment, is haunted by memories of La, alienated from his wife, his family and his surroundings, he retreats into a fantasy world made up of dreams and the past, a world from which there is only one route of escape.In her portrait of the fated love affair between a very young man and a middle-aged woman, Colette achieved a peak in her earthy, sensuous and utterly individual art. Chri caused considerable controversy both in its choice of setting - the fabulous demi-monde of the Parisian courtesans - and in its portrayal of Chri.

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This is Colette's famous love story about the romance between an older woman and a younger man.L a de Lonval is a magnificent and aging courtesan facing the end of her career. She has devoted the last six years to the amorous education of the exquisitely handsome and spoilt Ch ri - a playboy half her age. When an advantageous marriage is arranged for Ch ri, L a reluctantly decides their relationship must end. But neither lover can foresee how deeply they are connected, or how much they will have to give up.First published in 1920, it was instantly greeted by Marcel Proust and Andr Gide as a masterpiece.VINTAGE FRENCH CLASSICS - six masterpieces of French fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.'This most French of all French writers tells us how love sometimes binds and keeps a woman from breathing freely or how it may shape and support her and help her to be beautiful . . . One thinks of her as the female voice of Paris . . .' New York Times