Henry de Montherlant — The Bachelors

Penguin 1965 Paperback, 189pp. The Bachelors tells the story of two impoverished members of the French provincial aristocracy, the baron de Coëtquidan and his nephew the comte de Coantré, who live in the suburbs of Paris, each pursuing an eccentric, decaying existence cut off from the pressures of the twentieth century. This is a story of family intrigues and physical and mental disintegration. Neglected and humiliated by society, each lives in his private world of near madness. Finally one is helped by a rich relative whilst the other dies of neglect. Montherlant portrays with a mixture of irony and sympathy and a terrifying realism the strange twilight world inhabited by these two characters. Owner's Name inside. Pages tanned and spotted, cover worn and a little faded. Fair.