Claudine fills a diary with her experiences growing up in France.

The stories that inspired the film Colette, directed by Wash Westmoreland and starring Keira Knightley. Colette, prodded by her first husband, Willy, began her writing career with Claudine at School, which catapulted the young author into instant, sensational success. Among the most autobiographical of Colette's works, these four novels are dominated by the child-woman Claudine, whose strength, humor, and zest for living make her seem almost a symbol for the life force. Janet Flanner described these books as "amazing writing on the almost girlish search for the absolute of happiness in physical love . . . recorded by a literary brain always wide awake on the pillow."

THE STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE FILM COLETTE, out Jan 2019. In this final novel in Colette's famous series it is Claudine's friend Annie who tells the story in the form of a private diary. Claudine is happily settled with her adored husband Renaud, spending her time giving wide and worldly advice to despairing Annie, whose life with the boring and dominating Alain is set to dramatically change. With the help of Claudine, Annie takes steps to empower her own life, a life away from her husband. Though Colette's intoxicating series of novels emerges a portrait of Claudine an intelligent, modern woman whose life is always honest, passionate and inspiring.

A scandalously talented stage performer, a practiced seductress of both men and women, and the flamboyant author of some of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature, Colette was our first true superstar. Now, in Judith Thurman's Secrets of the Flesh, Colette at last has a biography worthy of her dazzling reputation. Having spent her childhood in the shadow of an overpowering mother, Colette escaped at age twenty into a turbulent marriage with the sexy, unscrupulous Willy--a literary charlatan who took credit for her bestselling Claudine novels. Weary of Willy's sexual domination, Colette pursued an extremely public lesbian love affair with a niece of Napoleon's. At forty, she gave birth to a daughter who bored her, at forty-seven she seduced her teenage stepson, and in her seventies she flirted with the Nazi occupiers of Paris, even though her beloved third husband, a Jew, had been arrested by the Gestapo. And all the while, this incomparable woman poured forth a torrent of masterpieces, including Gigi, Sido, Cheri, and Break of Day. Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award-winning biography of Isak Dinesen, portrays Colette as a thoroughly modern woman: frank in her desires, fierce in her passions, forever reinventing herself. Rich with delicious gossip and intimate revelations, shimmering with grace and intelligence, Secrets of the Flesh is one of the great biographies of our time. NOTE: This edition does not include a photo insert.

100 stories dating from 1908 to 1945.

The classic LGBT+ story by the creative master of Rose of Versailles! Born as “Claudine” in a female-assigned body that doesn’t reflect the man inside, this heart-wrenching story follows Claudine through life, pain, and the love of several women. Master shoujo mangaka Riyoko Ikeda explores gender and sexuality in early twentieth century France in this powerful tale about identity, culture, and self-acceptance.

One of the best of the celebrated Claudine novels, this installment follows the sexual and emotional machinations of three upper-class youths in a remote farmhouse, where the protagonist of the series awaits her husband Renaud's return from a Swiss sanatorium. She distracts herself by encouraging her young friend Annie to recount salacious episodes from her love life. When Renaud's homosexual son Marcel arrives, Claudine sets about matchmaking, a fiasco she bitterly regrets. With Renaud's death, Claudine's ennui is transmuted into resigned suffering, but she gradually allows the rhythm and beauty of the natural world to reawaken her desire to live.

THE STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE FILM COLETTE, out Jan 2019. The second book in Colette's enchanting Claudine series. Seventeen-year-old Claudine is in despair having left her beloved village Montigny for a new life in Paris. Comforted by her devoted maid Melie, her slug-obsessed Papa, and the trustworthy cat Fanchette, Claudine’s instinctive curiosity gradually leads to an awakened interest in the city. Ruthless and sensual, Claudine records her sharp observations and adventures amongst the intriguing characters that surround her, evoking all the glamour and excitement of Parisian life. Written with striking realism Claudine in Paris is an inspiring portrait of a precocious young girl on the brink of transformation into a woman for her, and our, time.

Maria Lantos is a post grad Yale student researching illicit 18th-century literature. She’s become exceptionally well-versed in the narratives of classic erotic fantasy. She’s also Claudine, an in-demand escort specializing in sexual role play for an elite clientele. Anonymous. Satisfying. And discreet. Until the tenuous separation between her worlds starts to crack. It begins with the murder of a stranger. Where it leads is to two men who will test Maria's limits of control and awaken her own sexual desires. As her private nights bleed into day, Maria will discover the dangerous places that extend beyond the imagination, and secrets no longer consigned to the dark.

Claudine’s House,the first of Colette’s best-selling Claudine novels, is a tender and heartfelt portrayal of childhood and memory. On its first publication, its popularity was such that the Claudine series gave rise to a musical stage play and an entire range of related merchandise. In an idyllic setting of countryside and woods, Colette spent her childhood surrounded by a warm and loving family. Years later, her memories and experiences inspired her to create a series of snapshots of the innocence of provincial life. At once poignant and vividly alive, her recollections portray a magical world, filled with the beauty and the warmth of human relationships—and, above all, the lasting impressions made by her wonderful mother. French novelist Colette is most famous for her portraits of childhood in the Claudine books and forGigi.