Duo

Duo first appeared as a serial in the journal Marianne from 12 to 31 October 1934, and was adapted for the stage at the Théâtre Saint-Georges four years later. “A Balzacian world takes shape here, that of the servants and villagers with their watchful eyes, in a setting where appearances must constantly be preserved. Facing this malevolent chorus, the couple at the center of the story rises to the level of tragedy, the final lines quietly fulfilling the catastrophe foretold by the rising waters” (notice on Duo by the Société des amis de Colette). Colette, who judged her own writing harshly, had described this text as a “little novel” in a letter to a friend. It is nevertheless one of the finest novels of Colette’s 1930s output, in which she dissects with precision and emotion the ambivalent interplay of jealousy and desire within a couple, here embodied by Michel and Alice. Alice reappears five years later in Le Toutounier.

From the library of Joël Dupont, with bookplate.