"Valentine would come out of her oratory intensely excited, with
her nerves on edge and the blood flowing hotly through her veins.
At such times Benedict's glances and words laid waste her heart
like a stream of molten lava. If he had been hypocritical or adroit
enough to present adultery to her in a mystic light, Valentine
would have been ruined with a prayer on her lips..." Deep in George
Sand's own natal countryside of Berri in central France, Valentine
de Raimbault, daughter of the chateau, and Benedict Lhery, cousin
and adopted son of one of its tenant farmers, meet and fall
headlong in love. Though they are very young, she 18 and he 22,
both are already engaged to be married: he to his cousin, a
beautiful and imperious girl who sees him as a stepping stone to
comfort and security, and she to a dissolute diplomat who needs her
wealth to pay his gigantic gambling debts. They must both first
realize the extraordinary power of their feelings, and then enter a
terrible battle with relatives, expectations and conventions, where
their difference in rank proves a massive obstacle. Their union
will indeed be hard won, if it can be. As they fight to understand
and fulfil their love, the world bends, breaks and remakes itself
around them many times. In the uncertainty, one of them unwillingly
marries; the other rejects passionately the idea of a life united
to any but their loved one. Lives are lost, arguments are
precipitated into great conflicts, scores are settled and new ones
created, intrigues are pursued, misunderstandings are promoted,
long-held secrets are finally revealed. It is only when a chance
mistake proves disastrously final that their tragic love finds its
whole meaning, that the pattern they are creating in their lives
fulfils its extraordinary design. This intensely passionate novel,
the author's second, was first published in 1832. George Sand
(Amandine Dupin, afterwards Baroness Dudevant) was born in Paris in
1804. She was raised largely by her grandmother at the family
estate of Nohant in Berri, a region of central France. After
rebelling an unsuccessful marriage, she had affairs with authors
Prosper Merimee and Alfred de Musset, composer Frederic Chopin, and
the actress Marie Dorval, among others. Her output of acclaimed
novels, plays, travel sketches and autobiography was prodigious,
beginning in the late 1820s and continuing until her death in 1876.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
