Night in the Afternoon: And Other Erotica

“A short libertine novel . . . It is masterful, from beginning to end, intelligent, and in many passages, very beautiful” (La Quinzaine). Night in the Afternoon is a breathless, lyrical, and starkly erotic novella of a young woman caught between two lovers. Though she shares a wonderfully tender and loving relationship with her boyfriend Gilles, she is unconsciously lured by a newspaper ad placed by a “masterful man” requesting a “docile” young woman. Answering it, she meets someone she will know only as the red-headed man. They begin a brief but intense affair—she swears each time that she will not see him again, only to feel her resolve crumbling before their next assignation. Reminiscent of Pauline Réage and Alina Reyes, this is an unforgettable story of an irresistible, forbidden desire. Joined here by several of Caroline Lamarche’s short stories, this collection is a delectable, sophisticated piece of literary erotica and a deeply satisfying exploration of illicit passion. “To say that Night in the Afternoon is an erotic novel is to reduce it. . . . Beautiful . . . It is about, in effect, learning to reexperience love . . . In Night in the Afternoon, to surrender is to be delivered.” —Les Inrockuptibles