Paule looks into her mirror and sees "another Paule, passionately concerned with her beauty, struggling to transition from the status of a young woman to that of a younger woman." This phrase, imbued with a sustained melancholy and reminiscent of the "little music" beloved by Françoise Sagan's admirers, sets the tone for this famous novel, which was adapted for the screen by Anatole Litvak. Paule, a fashion designer abandoned by her lover, is adored by a young man fifteen years her junior. She stands at the threshold of a new relationship—love, passion, infatuation?—tormented by a desperate desire for happiness and youth. Sagan presents a portrait of a woman on the brink of forty, offering an ironic and clear-eyed reflection on her struggles and aspirations.
Sagan Books
