A Diary of a Chambermaid - Softcover

Octave Mirbeau

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0352318562 ISBN 13: 9780352318565

Publisher: NEXUS, 1986

Synopsis

A French chambermaid, who has served in Paris, in the houses of the nobility, the bourgeois, and professional people, finally enters the service of a rich couple living in the country, and there begins to keep a diary. In describing the events of her daily life and the people about her, she is frequently reminded of episodes in her past, and digresses to relate them. Thus her diary becomes a piquant panorama of social life and institutions. It is a terrific social exposure, a grim social satire, crammed with humor, bitterness, and truth. It has been described by a French critic as "an attempt to show that nearly all the masters are low-lived wretches, and that nearly all the servants are as near like them as they know how to be." Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde. His work has been translated into thirty languages.

About this title

About the Author:

Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917) was an anarchist and radical journalist who is best known today for his powerful indictments of French society. He wrote to revenge society for his upbringing.

Review:

Passionate, calculating, only sometimes honorable but always honest, Celestine is one of the great female characters in literature. -- Rhoda Koenig in The Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: NEXUS
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0352318562
• ISBN 13: 9780352318565
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256