Jezebel (1936)

This was fascinating. Starts with the trial of an older woman, accused of murdering her young lover. The rest of the book is the story of her life, culminating the the murder (I won't let on whodunit). The woman is Gladys, and her life is told from a young girl to the present time. She's not very likeable; she's attractive to men, but very self absorbed (in my mind). And that self absorbtion is the cause of her current predicament. I found myself feeling sorry for her, but thinking that it was largely self inflicted.
There's a distinct twist in the tail and it's a good read. ( )

Tired of her. ( )

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Although it isn’t my favourite book by Némirovsky, it was still a good read, she was a talented author, with beautiful storytelling skills and this book is no exception to that. The plot may not have been a favourite of mine, but it was a well written book.

This story was interesting at first, as we see the ending, before the reader really knows the story. I enjoyed the court proceedings, and wondered how Gladys came to this point in the story. How and why she murdered the young man. The book eventually turns to her past, examining her life that leads up to the murder. It’s the bulk of the story, and focuses on Gladys’ character and development. I both liked and disliked Gladys’ character; on one hand she did what she wanted for her self, reached for her goals, and got for the most part, what she wanted in life and what made her happy. On the other hand, the same traits made her self-absorbed, vain and selfish, to the point others she loved suffered around her. Most of the time she wasn’t a very likeable character, but she did fascinate me.

The overall story isn’t one I normally like - as it focuses on a type of character I usually don’t enjoy reading about. it had a lot of the same themes as books similar to it, which I didn’t enjoy and I also found parts of the story were predictable. But overall it was still and enjoyable read. And as much as Gladys’ flawed character irked me at times, I was shouting at her to kill the young man she was accused of killing in the end. He was barely in the book, but I was glad for his quick exit. It may not have been my favourite type of story, but I still enjoyed the overall reading experience of it.



Review is also posted on my book review blog Jules' Book Reviews - Jezebel ( )

I don't know what drew mw to this book, but it must have been something good. Apparently this book was originally written in french and has been translated into english, something that is quit unusual for me to have contemplated.
The basic story is that of the life of a woman on trial for the murder of her "lover" in a french court. This is the story of a life of privelage, but also the underside of that privelage where we have the main character atttempting to maintain the illusion of youth no matter what it takes.
This is not an exposet, this is not the main character looking for sympathy, infact it is a story that she refuses to tell anyone, maintining the illusion for the court is more important that any punishment. Though I would say that she is deluded enough to think that they would not inflict anything to rought on a lady such as herself.
It is not perhaps a book I might have normally chosen but it is one well worth the read

Dramatische Geschichte einer Frau, die besessen ist von dem Wunsch, ihr Leben lang von allen Männern begehrt zu werden und die panikartig jedes Mittel anzuwenden bereit ist, um ihr Älterwerden zu kaschieren.