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"Women are not supposed to write; yet I write." – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore
In 1817, at the late age of thirty-three, Marceline Desbordes, the actress and Romantic poet – the only woman counted by Paul Verlaine among his poètes maudits, or "accursed poets," a group that included Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, and Alfred de Vigny – marries Prosper Valmore, a fellow actor who brings love and stability to her tumultuous life. Such stability is short-lived, however: When she meets Henri de Latouche, an influential man of letters, they soon begin a passionate affair. Although their tryst does not last more than a year, their relationship survives through letters and memory. It sparks inspiration in Marceline's work and leads her to create some of the most beautiful poetry in French literature. A talented poet, a romantic woman, a passionate lover, a nurturing mother, and a child at heart, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore is rescued from obscurity through Plantagenet's dazzling writing in this fictionalized biography. The book will include a selection of Desbordes-Valmore's poems in the original French and in an English translation by the Pulitzer Prize—winning poet Louis Simpson.
"This is primarily a novel about giving birth - to poems, to the creative life and to tragically doomed children. A passionate rendering of a passionate poet." - Kirkus Reviews
"As Desbordes-Valmore gains public acclaim as a writer and pursues political and charitable interests, she emerges here as a modern, liberated woman." - Library Journal
"Fascinating and absorbing, this talented writer's book is a conscientious expression of her own twenty-first-century attitudes toward the poet; it is educational as well as entertaining." - Foreword Magazine
"With a poet's imagery rendered in narrative prose, Anne Plantagenet invites us in to the intimate life of the historic poet, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. In bold leaps forth and back in time, and in a voice wry, precise, and deliciously sardonic, it's as if Plantagenet inhabits her, has become her. What a splendid achievement." - Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue and Luncheon of the Boating Party
"An extraordinary portrait of an extraordinary woman. Anne Plantagenet captures the heightened, passionate atmosphere of Romanticism in Europe in a novel that is at once vivid and elegant - and profoundly moving." - Jude Morgan, author of Passion
"This is truly a stunning work. Ms. Plantagenet's insights into the lives of her characters are breathtaking. The writing is clean, crisp, fragile and poignant. The book is absolutely magnificent." - Diane Haeger, author of The Queen's Mistake
This information about The Last Rendezvous was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Anne Plantagenet was born in 1972 in Burgundy and spent her childhood in Champagne. After stays in London and Seville, she now lives in Paris. She has published translations from the Spanish; two biographies, Marilyn Monroe (Gallimard, 2007) and Manolete (Ramsay, 2005); a first novel, Un Coup de corne fut mon premier baiser (Ramsay, 1998); and an acclaimed story collection, Pour les siècles des siècles (Stock, 2008). The Last Rendezvous is the recipient of the 2005 Prix du récit biographique of the Académie internationale des arts et collections.
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