Gosh this book is just so bizzarre and yet wonderful. I love finding these gems of books written by women in times we wouldn’t normally associate with such unhinged behaviour, they are so much more charming for it.

The long and short of this book is that our protagonist is the mistress to a self-centred man, but ends up forming a close bond with his wife and his mother later, much closer to love in both cases. 

But what makes this book special is the way it’s written. I think the beautiful, wondrous prose perfectly conveys the messiness of feelings, mixing it cleverly with plot points about secrecy, sickness and the achievement of personal accomplishment. The protagonist, Hero, self-identifies as a rather weak person just trying to go with the flow, appeasing the more driven people who take her life by storm, but in that she gets the pleasure of sort of riding a wave. It’s like she is a victim to her feelings, but it makes for a fascinating story to follow. 

I, being a major nerd, also loved all the reflections about art (especially rococo) that provide a nice background to the story, and all the cerebral flows of consciousness that periodically take over. 

It’s a fever dream of a book. If you are looking for an interesting queer narrative from back in the day, this is a must read. I’m really glad it’s back in print.