Author: Taslima Nasreen
Translator: Sreejata Guha
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 293
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0143028103
Description
Bold in concept and powerful in execution, this novel is a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a woman's mind as she struggles to come to terms with her identity in a hostile world.
‘French Lover’ is the story of Nilanjana, a young Bengali woman from Kolkata who moves to Paris after her marriage to Kishanlal, a restaurant owner, Kishanlal’s luxurious apartment seems to Nilanjana to be a gilded cage, and she feels stifled within its friendless confines. Her marriage, where she functions as little more than a housekeeper and a sex object, is far from fulfilling-and Nilanjana looks desperately for a way out of the boredom and depression that threaten to engulf her life. It is at this point that she meets Benoir Dupont, a blond, blue-eyed handsome Frenchman, and is swept off her feet. Benoir introduces Nilanjana to the streets, the cafes and the art galleries of Paris—and Nilanjana to the streets, the cafes and the art galleries of Paris—and Nilanjana finds that the doors to a whole new world have opened before her. In her passionate, sexually liberating relationship with Benoir, she finally begins to have an linking of her own desires. The relationship ends when Nilanjana realizes that Benoir’s first priority is himself and not the woman he loves, and that her need for him has ended. But her road to self-discovery has only just begun…
Contents
Dumdum to Charles de Gaulle
The Visiting Bride
Life at Home
From Gare du Nord to Gare d’Austerlitz
The Invitation
Paris in a Trance
La Familia
A Bientot
Calcutta as Usual
A-la-s Familia
Thus We Float Away
Au Revoir
Benoir Dupont
Benoir’s Wild Elixir
Morounis Vernesse
Jet’aime, Jet’aime, Jet’aime
I stamp your name
On the sky, on the wind, in the water and on grass ---- Liberte
A New Life
From Five to Seven
Love in This Foreign Land
The Chimera Days
The End? Not Yet!
A Big Day
Perturbed
This is the End