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In a large country house shut off from the world by a gated garden, three young governesses responsible for the education of a group of little boys are preparing a party. The governesses, however, seem to spend more time running around in a state of frenzied desire than attending to the children's education. One of their main activities is lying in wait for any passing stranger, and then throwing themselves on him like drunken Maenads. The rest of the time they drift about in a kind of sated, melancholy calm, spied upon by an old man in the house opposite, who watches their goings-on through a telescope. As they hang paper lanterns and prepare for the ball in their own honor, and in honor of the little boys rolling hoops on the lawn, much is mysterious: one reviewer wrote of the book's "deceptively simple words and phrasing, the transparency of which works like a mirror reflecting back on the reader."Written with the elegance of old French fables, the dark sensuality of Djuna Barnes and the subtle comedy of Robert Walser, this semi-deranged erotic fairy tale introduces American readers to the marvelous Anne Serre.… (more)
User reviews
After reading it, I think that the book is purposefully unsettling, deliberately eschewing easy answers. When I started reading, I kept wondering, "What are the governesses? What is this world?" But this story seems to be its own and neatly steps aside from fitting neatly into any one trope, even as it plays with several.
It is enthralling in its way, a seductive little puzzle. It does not seem to be here to teach us any life lessons or enrich our moral fiber. Everyone runs around doing what they please (especially the governesses) until they don't. There are rules, but more as boundaries than judgements.
In the end I feel both charmed and a little baffled. Which seems appropriate.