The Marquise de Sade

On the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Sade’s death, our most prolific novelist has taken an interest in the least-known spouse.

With the charm and power of libertine innuendo, she brings back to life this period of moral revolution at the court of Versailles under Louis the XV. An epistolary novel between the Marquis’ very prudish and virtuous wife and a mysterious stranger.

You may have forgotten that the Marquis de Sade was married. To a sweet and prudish young woman who feel head-over-heels in love with him. But she refuses to partake in any pleasureful activities with him, as she considers these things lacking in virtue.

An anonymous friend writes to her to reveal the extent of her husband’s mischief to her and to invite her to witness it herself. Heartbroken and disillusioned, she watches, impotent and astounded, her husband’s behavior and the scale of her misfortune. She begins exchanging letters with this friend, who goes from a zealous denouncer to true friend, keen to share secrets and advice in the hopes of waking the Marquise up to the sweeter things in life.

A fascinating epistolary novel set in the Paris of the Enlightenment and of libertinism.