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The Cat and The Masked Woman
'My little puma! My darling cat! My mountain lion! How will you go on living if we leave each other?'
Colette (1873-1954) is one of the most widely read and critically acclaimed French writers of the twentieth century. The Cat first serialised then published in volume form in 1933) is one of her short novels. This story of a middle-class couple in 1920s Paris follows the familiar romantic structure of the 'eternal triangle', with the unexpected twist that the female rival is not a woman but a cat. The novel displays her capacity to conjure up a vibrantly physical world and a particular social moment, her radical yet nuanced view of gender roles, and her empathy with non-human creatures.
The Masked Woman is a collection of short texts, mainly written for the daily newspaper Le Matin, focusing on small moments that mark a transition in a person's life, and on certain recurring the pleasure and the pain in relationships between women and men, the wearing of masks both literal and metaphorical, female complicity and solidarity. They are also linked by Colette's inimitable narrative style, by the vividly material fictional universe she creates, and her liking for surprise and paradox that challenges a commonsensical view of the world.
Colette (1873-1954) is one of the most widely read and critically acclaimed French writers of the twentieth century. The Cat first serialised then published in volume form in 1933) is one of her short novels. This story of a middle-class couple in 1920s Paris follows the familiar romantic structure of the 'eternal triangle', with the unexpected twist that the female rival is not a woman but a cat. The novel displays her capacity to conjure up a vibrantly physical world and a particular social moment, her radical yet nuanced view of gender roles, and her empathy with non-human creatures.
The Masked Woman is a collection of short texts, mainly written for the daily newspaper Le Matin, focusing on small moments that mark a transition in a person's life, and on certain recurring the pleasure and the pain in relationships between women and men, the wearing of masks both literal and metaphorical, female complicity and solidarity. They are also linked by Colette's inimitable narrative style, by the vividly material fictional universe she creates, and her liking for surprise and paradox that challenges a commonsensical view of the world.
208 pages, Paperback
Published August 7, 2025
About the author
Colette
940 books1,801 followersColette was the pen name of the French novelist and actress Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She is best known, at least in the English-speaking world, for her novella Gigi, which provided the plot for a famous Lerner & Loewe musical film and stage musical. She started her writing career penning the influential Claudine novels of books. The novel Chéri is often cited as her masterpiece.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 1, 2026
The cat is a wonderful story about the 'eternal triangle' where the other female along with the husband and wife is in fact a cat as per the following comment:
"An animal! she cried indignantly. You are sacrificing me for an animal! I'm your wife, for goodness' sake! You're abandoning me for an animal!'
The Masked Woman is a collection of articles written for Le Matin about the transitions that occur in a person's life.
"An animal! she cried indignantly. You are sacrificing me for an animal! I'm your wife, for goodness' sake! You're abandoning me for an animal!'
The Masked Woman is a collection of articles written for Le Matin about the transitions that occur in a person's life.
June 26, 2026
2.5 very life un-changing
June 16, 2026
Though Saha, like a human, was watching Camille leave, Alain was sprawling in the chair, his upturned palm like a paw, skillfully playing with the first green prickly conkers of August. [final line of The Cat]
The Cat (original French title La Chatte, feminising the masculine noun) is a short novel set in 1920s Paris. It opens with Alain about to marry his childhood friend, the gorgeous Camille. Alain's pleasure in her company is tempered by his reluctance to leave his childhood home: the servants he's known all his life, his mother's luxuriant garden, and especially his cat Saha. The plan is for Alain and Camille to move into a nearby property, but it's not yet finished: instead, after the wedding, they stay at a friend's chic high-rise apartment in Paris. Meanwhile, Saha pines, and Alain soon decides to bring her to the apartment. Camille -- who is bourgeois, insensitive and shallow -- becomes increasingly jealous of Saha, and tries to kill her. Saha survives, Alain realises what's happened, and the marriage is over.
It's effectively a love triangle, except that one of the contenders for Alain's affection is a cat. Colette doesn't anthropomorphise Saha, or gild her essentially animal nature (litter trays are mentioned): but Saha is as much a character as Camille, and a more likeable one. The critical interpretation seems to be that Saha symbolises Alain's childhood, which he doesn't want to let go of. I am perfectly happy to take the novel as literal: I would absolutely leave a partner who tried to murder my cat.
The Masked Woman is a series of vignettes and short stories about men and women dealing with love. The stories focus on the moments that change a life, from the apprehension of a murderer to a woman who apparently revels in living alone, yet is full of regrets. The writing is perceptive, dwelling on little details (the more mundane the better) and evoking French life between the wars.
Narrated by Machteld van der Gaag, who's Dutch but grew up in Paris: her pronunciation of French names was really evocative, and she injects just the right amount of emotion into the prose.
Read because: 'Storygraph Reads the World' challenge, 'France': and I read, or attempted to read, La Chatte as a teenager, an optimistic gift from a French cousin: I wanted to see how much I remembered ... and discovered how much I had not understood.
August 27, 2025
This book contains a novella, "The Cat," and several short vignettes by Colette that comprise the remainder of the book. The short stories were a nice time capsule of that time, but the novella was absolutely brilliant.
The story is set in Paris, in the 1920s/30s, a young couple, Alain and Camille, who are very different people. Camille is a go-getter, she loves to drive their sports car, socialize with people, and see the world. She is modern, industrious, and is comfortable with her sexuality. Alain is neurotic, antisocial, lazy, critical of his beautiful wife and her sexuality, and totally obsessed with his cat Saha, a Russian blue feline who apparently felt very human emotions.
Alain lived like a king in his mother’s home, where he would languidly lounge in a garden tended by his mother and would be served by his mother’s maids, and his sole interest was in his cat Saha whom he would coo and pet, and call “My little Puma.” He would spend hours looking at her and marvelling at every feat she performed. He was reluctant to leave his ancestral home for a ninth-floor apartment after his marriage because he considered it was not a suitable environment for his little Saha. He loathed socializing because it would mean parting with his beloved cat.
His wife, Camille, was not included in this lovefest and saw the cat as a rival for her husband’s affections, and thus began the discontent in marriage.
What I find fascinating here is that Alain’s character seems very timeless, almost a Gen Z character, driven by various neuroses, and is more interested in cuddling his cat than having sex with his wife. The story started off with a beautiful description of an old Parisian house & garden in summer, where a man and his cat were spending idyllic mornings, but took a rather dark turn towards the end.
It was skilfully written and I was enamoured with the way both writer and translator set the scene. The descriptions were very visual, and the emotions were very intense. Colette brought this rather short period in these characters’ lives brilliantly to the fore.
The story is set in Paris, in the 1920s/30s, a young couple, Alain and Camille, who are very different people. Camille is a go-getter, she loves to drive their sports car, socialize with people, and see the world. She is modern, industrious, and is comfortable with her sexuality. Alain is neurotic, antisocial, lazy, critical of his beautiful wife and her sexuality, and totally obsessed with his cat Saha, a Russian blue feline who apparently felt very human emotions.
Alain lived like a king in his mother’s home, where he would languidly lounge in a garden tended by his mother and would be served by his mother’s maids, and his sole interest was in his cat Saha whom he would coo and pet, and call “My little Puma.” He would spend hours looking at her and marvelling at every feat she performed. He was reluctant to leave his ancestral home for a ninth-floor apartment after his marriage because he considered it was not a suitable environment for his little Saha. He loathed socializing because it would mean parting with his beloved cat.
His wife, Camille, was not included in this lovefest and saw the cat as a rival for her husband’s affections, and thus began the discontent in marriage.
What I find fascinating here is that Alain’s character seems very timeless, almost a Gen Z character, driven by various neuroses, and is more interested in cuddling his cat than having sex with his wife. The story started off with a beautiful description of an old Parisian house & garden in summer, where a man and his cat were spending idyllic mornings, but took a rather dark turn towards the end.
It was skilfully written and I was enamoured with the way both writer and translator set the scene. The descriptions were very visual, and the emotions were very intense. Colette brought this rather short period in these characters’ lives brilliantly to the fore.
February 22, 2026
Colette is brilliant at capturing the subtle tensions in relationships without making the drama feel exaggerated. The Cat is especially sharp in how it portrays jealousy and emotional distance in a marriage, through small and simple expression.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews