Overview

A haunting, resonant novel of passion and betrayal-in its first English translation since 1928 ""When we bring true passions into our works, we don't fear the cries of the offended."" So declared Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly in 1853 as he prepared to publish The Bewitched in book form, restoring the sections that were unceremoniously deleted from its serialized release by an editor who deemed them too explicit, irreverent, and inflammatory. Newly translated into English for modern readers, The Bewitched is a beguiling tale of politics, obsession, and horror set against the backdrop of Normandy in postrevolutionary France. Late at night in a foggy moor, the far clock tower rends the still air to mark the midnight hour. As the darkness settles back into silence, another bell rings out, slow and somber, calling all who hear it to the Abbe de La Croix-Jugan's Mass of the Dead. Returned to the priesthood in shame after breaking his vows by shedding blood in battle and attempting suicide in defeat, the disfigured man enthralls the inhabitants of this small village. Before long, a young married woman becomes infatuated with the enigmatic priest, and their fates are irrevocably intertwined. When she succumbs to despair over her unrequited love, her husband is consumed by jealousy and vows revenge. Layering stories within stories and continually shifting points of view, Barbey d'Aurevilly engages a mosaic of narrators to depict the era's tensions between the aristocracy, the peasant class, and the church. Raymond N. MacKenzie's lively translation is accompanied by his detailed introduction and notes that ground the novel in its historical, political, and literary contexts. A classic of French Gothic literature, The Bewitched blends religious transgression, satanic possession, and political upheaval into a fatal love story that is as gripping now as it was nearly two centuries ago. Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly.

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9781517917807

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Reviews

""Thanks to Raymond N. MacKenzie's beautiful translation and reader-friendly introduction, The Bewitched by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, one of the most original nineteenth-century French writers, is again available in English. Scrutinizing blind passions, its multivoiced narration portrays a cruel conflict between incurable political wounds, religious yearnings, and irrepressible love. A memorable, far-sighted novel.""—Thomas Pavel, University of Chicago

""Thanks to Raymond N. MacKenzie's beautiful translation and reader-friendly introduction, The Bewitched by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, one of the most original nineteenth-century French writers, is again available in English. Scrutinizing blind passions, its multivoiced narration portrays a cruel conflict between incurable political wounds, religious yearnings, and irrepressible love. A memorable, far-sighted novel.""--Thomas Pavel, University of Chicago

Author Information

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (18081889) is one of the most notorious of decadent writers and the subject of a major critical and popular resurgence in France. He wrote many books, including Diaboliques, also published in translation by the University of Minnesota Press. Raymond N. MacKenzie is professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has translated many classics of European literature, including books by Balzac, Flaubert, Stendhal, and Lamartine, also published by the University of Minnesota Press.

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