by John Hawkes
First published 1981
Virginie exists in two different worlds separated by centuries. In one life, she serves as companion to the Seigneur, a corrupt nobleman during France's Ancien Regime. Her days revolve around his twisted desires and the decadent rituals of aristocratic excess. In her other existence, she inhabits post-World War II Paris as the younger sister of Bocage, who drives a taxi by day and runs women by night. The city bears fresh scars from occupation, and Virginie navigates a world where survival depends on compromise and moral flexibility. Through reincarnation, she moves between these two lives, carrying memories and experiences that blur the boundaries between past and present. The Seigneur's depravity echoes in the gritty streets of modern Paris, while Bocage's criminality reflects the corruption she knew centuries before. Virginie struggles to understand which life is real and which is dream, as both worlds demand pieces of her soul.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-timeline, moral-ambiguity, reincarnation
Setting: France, Paris
Period: Ancien Regime, Post-World War II
215 pages · Hardcover · Harper&Row
Content warnings: sexual-content, violence