The Devil in the Flesh

In this novel of desire, possession and perdition, an unnamed adolescent narrator meets the slightly older Marthe in Paris at the start of the First World War when her husband-to-be is away at the Front. The narrator is at a loose end – precocious and apathetic, he has given up school, and in the general chaos of wartime no occupation has been found for him. At first out of boredom, he sets about gaining a hold on Marthe, but finds himself falling deeper in love. They plunge into an affair, full of sensual pleasure and cruel power games. But as their ill-kept secret becomes widely known – and when Marthe falls pregnant – the consequences of their heedlessness begin to unfold. Freedom and passion are confronted by convention and martial honour, with tragic repercussions.