By Cecile

by Tereska Torrès

By Cecile depicts post-World War II France as it reels from war and recovery. In Paris, an orphan girl, Cecile, finds refuge with an older man. He introduces her to nightclubs, intellectuals, artists (Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Eartha Kitt!), and non-monogamy. When she falls for his mistress, she begins to live a life she deems worthy of writing about . . . but only under the pseudonym of her husband.


Tereska Torres is the author of Women's Barracks, which is widely considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel, and has sold over four million copies. Torres lives in Paris, France.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Pulp

166 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

By Cecile is my second effort by Tereska Torrès, the first being Women's Barracks, often described as the first lesbian pulp novel. By Cecile was originally published in 1963. It tells the story of young French woman, Cecile and is set at the end of WWII and the years afterward.

Cecile was moved by her parents from Paris to live with an aunt in a small country town to keep her away from the war. Her parents are sent to a 'prison' and she awaits the end of the war, hoping they will return. A family friend, Maurice, a man who is basically a literary agent+, comes and gets Cecile and brings her to Paris, to live in her parents' apartment. He eventually marries her and the majority of the story is their life together.

Cecile is a free-spirited child, imaginative, full of life. Maurice introduces her to sex and to the artistic life in Paris. (The sex is more hinted at than graphic). Cecile isn't happy with Maurice and begins to fall in love with Henriette. Maurice discovers a story that Cecile is writing and decides it needs to be touched up (that is his specialty; he's not a writer, rather an editor) and by touched up, he means more detailed exploration of sexuality.

Everything sexual is described very mildly, more by intimation than actual action. It's a very French story. I can see it as a movie by Jean Luc Godard or Francois Truffaut. The story is very well-written, provides an excellent picture, and is very thoughtful. It's a slow-paced story, but that is necessary and it helps present Cecile's character and describe her growth. Thoughtful and interesting. (3.5 stars)

[Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give it a 3.5 if I could, but, of course, why would Goodreads ever bother to give us that option? Anyway, wanted to leave a review very specifically as the plot synopsis given by Feminist Press is relatively misleading, and I think a lot of folks probably will be disappointed if they go in expecting a story about a femme fatale who ends up snatching an older man's other girlfriend from him while being a literary maven of her own. Instead, the titular Cecile starts the story as a headstrong young woman in rural France whose life is turned upside down by the end of WWII and the revelation that her parents, long absent, were murdered by the Nazis. In her gloom, she's perfect pickings for a middle-aged man who presents himself as a benevolent friend of her parents, only to in rapid order manipulate her into his bed and then into marriage, before whisking her off to Paris to be an ornamental object in his life. It takes a long while for Cecile to work herself back around to anything approaching the independent attitude she had at the beginning of the book. I ultimately found it an enjoyable read, but it is not much like that back-cover blurb (good thing for me I learned to be skeptical of Feminist Press's synopses for books years ago!).

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were kindly sent this book to review by the wonderful people of Turnaround Books. Reading the brief on the back cover I felt it would be a good read. The book was originally published in 1963 and has been just recently republished in a series of 'pulp novels'. It is set in France during and after the Second World War. We meet Cecile, who is an innocent child who had been sent to live with her godmother after her parents became prisoners of war. Her life in a village in France during this time is beautifully described, an idyllic world, even in a country gripped by war. She lives the life of fantasy, an actress from an early age, but we get to hear the thoughts that proliferate whilst she portrays the image of a confident young lady.
Everything changes after a letter arrives from a friend of her parents and we and Cecile are suddenly in the midst of Paris and a very different life ensues.
I really enjoyed the book, it is beautifully written, with great depth, emotion and most of all thoughtfulness. I loved how we got to delve into the mind of Celcile and saw what made her tick, like most of us, bearing witness to her own facade wondering why she did what she did.
Highly recommend this book!

[Alex Sarll]

A fictionalised biography of the young Colette, by "the author of Women's Barracks, which is widely considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel" - I'm a little surprised that I'd never heard of this one before happening across it in the library. Given author and subject, it's a lot less steamy than one might expect, much happier to suggest than show. But the protagonist's interior life is given a more unflinching treatment. Was Colette, even this early, really such a victim? Hard to say for sure, but the beauty of changing the names is that we don't have to decide if the account is true or false, and can instead be charmed by it as a compelling character study.

[Nicky Nicholson-Klingerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book. I can't believe I never knew that Tereska was the first author to write lesbian pulp fiction. This book was astoundingly good. I highly recommend it.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book I didn't realise it was going to be a retelling of the story of Willy and Colette. I thought it was just a post- World War II novel about a queer woman in Paris. It was amusing because it was both a re-telling but the original Colette and Willy were both mentioned as being there but older. This is sort of their story told again 50 years later. The post war setting is really good. You end up feeling quite sorry for Cecile. She falls into one of those relationships which is so domineering and she's not able to stand up for herself at all. Her weakness is at times quite disappointing, and Maurice, her husband, is quite hideous. I find it baffling that a woman would just accept that a husband would sleep around and that she couldn't object. It was also a little disappointing the way Cecile finally came into her own, rather than realising herself that she was a good writer, it came down to her husband telling her so. But I still really enjoyed this.

On a physical note, I've bought other books in this series by this publisher and they've all been a larger paperback size. This one was a normal paperback size and the writing was a bit smaller. It was a bit shocking to see the retail prices was $14.00 I can't believe that a little paperback costs so much now! I'm glad I was able to get a copy on amazon for £3!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, not so much for the sex, but for the growing frustrations of a writer whose work has been published in her husband's name.

[Emylie]

I picked this one off the shelf because the cover said 'femme fatale.' Interesting read, but not one I'd go out of my way to recommend.

[Meen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I wasn't expecting great literature, but it was too much hetero for it to be just a trashy good pulp. *shrugs*