Scan barcode
laurynreads's review against another edition
4.0
This was so fun! I continue to be pleasantly surprised by NYRB and enjoy every moment
caralikesbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
barrypierce's review against another edition
2.0
Victorine L'Hommedieu has sexual fantasies about her older brother. She is 13 years old and her newly discovered sexual drive is all she can think about. Her home life is a mess. Her father has a penchant for mistresses and her mother is utterly clueless. When Victorine was first published in 1959 it was sold as erotic pulp fiction and given the title 'The Hands of Love'. This is another one of NYRB's attempts to rediscover a 'classic' but I'm afraid, with Victorine, there isn't much to rediscover.
The overall story of Victorine is fine. Where the novel strives is that it is an open and unapologetic document of a young girl's sexual awakening, describing her incestuous urges and lesbian encounters with total candidness (which is brave considering the era during which this novel was written). The secondary plots involving the rest of her family are somewhat expendable.
This novel falls down however due to no fault other than the pen of the author. Maude Hutchins just was not a very good writer of prose. Oftentimes her stray observations or images are far too on the nose and she seems to struggle to make one cohesive narrative. The novel is incredibly episodic, which I doubt was intentional, considering that it is a very slim volume. Each chapter almost reads like a short story and each can be summarised by simply stating 'And then Victorine did this'.
However I did enjoy this novel, despite its major flaws. It was good pulpy fun. It's the kind of book that I'd hand to someone and say 'read this and tell me what you think about it' and then we'd proceed to discussing it for several wine-fuelled hours. Victorine is a bit of a mess, but it's a fascinating mess.
The overall story of Victorine is fine. Where the novel strives is that it is an open and unapologetic document of a young girl's sexual awakening, describing her incestuous urges and lesbian encounters with total candidness (which is brave considering the era during which this novel was written). The secondary plots involving the rest of her family are somewhat expendable.
This novel falls down however due to no fault other than the pen of the author. Maude Hutchins just was not a very good writer of prose. Oftentimes her stray observations or images are far too on the nose and she seems to struggle to make one cohesive narrative. The novel is incredibly episodic, which I doubt was intentional, considering that it is a very slim volume. Each chapter almost reads like a short story and each can be summarised by simply stating 'And then Victorine did this'.
However I did enjoy this novel, despite its major flaws. It was good pulpy fun. It's the kind of book that I'd hand to someone and say 'read this and tell me what you think about it' and then we'd proceed to discussing it for several wine-fuelled hours. Victorine is a bit of a mess, but it's a fascinating mess.
More...