The startling and groundbreaking novel that inspired Luis Buñuel's film by the same name is finally available once more. In a world that blurs the lines between feminism and female sexuality Belle de Jour remains as vital and controversial today as it was in its 1960 debut. Severine Serizy is a wealthy and beautiful Parisian housewife who loves her husband but she cannot share physical intimacy with him and her vivid sadomasochistic fantasies drive her to seek employment at a brothel. By day she enacts her customers' wildest fantasies under the pseudonym "Belle de Jour"; in the evenings she returns home to her chaste marriage and oblivious husband. Famous for its unflinching eroticism Joseph Kessel's novel continues to offer an eye-opening glance into a unique female psyche.
