Delicate Pursuit explores the way in which Henry James and Edith Wharton treated subject matter that was considered controversial by American publishers at the turn of the century. In their treatment of risque topics, James and Wharton pursued discretion, the key concept of this study, in order to avoid censorship. Discretion marks not only the author's relationship to their subject matter but also the behavior of the characters in the fiction. This study takes into particular account the influence of the French literary tradition on these two authors. At the crossroads of the new freedom of expression opened up by French realism and the persisting puritanical standards of their American audiences, James and Wharton sough safe ways to address adult sexuality, and the French theme of adulterous love in particular.

Delicate Pursuit explores the way in which Henry James and Edith Wharton treated subject matter that was considered controversial by American publishers at the turn of the century. In their treatment of risque topics, James and Wharton pursued 'discretion', the key concept of this study, in order to avoid censorship. Discretion marks not only the author's relationship to their subject matter but also the behaviour of the characters in the fiction.
This study takes into particular account the influence of the French literary tradition on these two authors. At the crossroads of the new freedom of expression opened up by French realism and the persisting puritanical standards of their American audiences, James and Wharton sought safe ways to address adult sexuality, and the 'French' theme of adulterous love in particular.

Elie Paul Cohen, a Franco-British civilian emergency doctor, was in his youth an anti-militarist who evaded conscription. But decades later, his military record comes back to haunt him when it turns up in his professional dossier. In a surreal coincidence, the French, British, and Israeli secret services suddenly become interested in recruiting him, and Cohen accepts the deal the French Army offers: he can settle his accounts by serving as a liaison emergency doctor in Afghanistan. After a year and a half of training, Cohen is in 2011 deployed at Camp Bastion, the largest British Military base since World War II. His mission is twofold: First, to study Damage Control Resuscitation, a new treatment for polytraumatized soldiers that was developed by British doctors in Afghanistan. Second, to share these advanced protocols with the French Military Health Service. Combining elements of spy thriller and adventure story with reflections on the costs of war, Cohen's memoir offers a unique perspective on the conflict in Afghanistan, and on the medical challenges presented by the expansion of terrorism into Europe and America.

When Anna, now living in California, is contacted by the Italian lover she knew decades before, she recalls their affair and the child she gave up for adoption. As the episode returns to haunt her-threatening the life she's built, including her marriage-the story moves back in time to her youth in Europe. Rome, 1979. Anna, twenty-two and living abroad, is involved with a man already engaged to be married. When she meets and befriends his fiancee, she is forced to confront the moral consequences of her actions. But an unexpected pregnancy, an anonymous letter, and threatening relatives complicate the picture. A novel in which an unconventional heroine, far from home, is forced to reckon with the judgment of others.

Alternating discursive accounts with fictional vignettes that recreate time and place, this book skillfully integrates the history of French gardens with the modern history of ideas.Denise Le Dantec is a poet and Professor of Philosophy at the Centre National d'Enseignement a "istance, Paris. Jean-Pierre Le Dantec is a Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Paris La-Villette."

Why is it easier for a woman to be a muse than to have one? Can one be fully creative—in art or life—without the inspiration of erotic love? These are the questions asked in The Geometry of Love, a novel set in New York in the 1980s, then fast-forwarding to Northern California 20 years later. Julia, an aspiring poet, is living with her British boyfriend Ben, a restrained professor at Princeton, when she has a chance meeting with Michael, a long-ago friend. A charismatic composer, Michael was once a catalyzing muse for her, but now returns as a destabilizing influence. Julia longs to become involved with Michael, but hesitates to give up the security of her relationship with Ben. When Michael signals he is too wounded to make a commitment, Julia turns her triangular situation into a square by setting him up with a cousin. In the process she discovers, as Pascal once said, that ""the heart has its reasons which reason does not know."" This deeply psychological tale explores the surprising ways we make romantic choices.