French Lover

Description

A woman’s search for love and independence in a strange city far away from home.

French Lover is the story of Nilanjana, a young Bengali woman from Kolkata who moves to Paris after her marriage to Kishanlal, a restaurant owner. Kishanlal’s luxurious apartment seems to Nilanjana to be a gilded cage, and she feels stifled within its friendless confines.

Her marriage, where she functions as little more than a housekeeper and a sex object, is far from fulfilling—and Nilanjana looks desperately for a way out of the boredom and depression that threaten to engulf her life. It is at this point that she meets Benoir Dupont, a blond, blue-eyed handsome Frenchman, and is swept off her feet. Benoir introduces Nilanjana to the streets, the cafes and the art galleries of Paris—and Nilanjana finds that the doors to a whole new world have opened before hen In her passionate, sexually liberating relationship with Benoir, e finally begins to have an inkling of her own desires. The relationship ends when Nilanjana realizes that Benoir’s first priority is himself and not the woman he I loves, and that her need for him has ended. But her road to self-discovery has only just begun…

Bold in concept and powerful in execution, French Lover is a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a woman’s mind as she struggles to come to terms with her identity in a hostile world.

Taslima Nasrin