GIGI TRANSLATED BY ROGER SENHOUSE, THE CAT TRANSLATED BY ANTONIA WHITEGigi's days are filled with cigars, lobster, lace and superstitions: the education of a future courtesan. Bored and unconvinced by what she's taught, Gigi surprises all with her approach to love. In this classic turn-of-the-century novella, Colette unveils Gigi's journey into womanhood in rich and supple prose.This edition includes The Cat translated by Antonia White.

Colette's celebrated novels about an older courtesan and her young lover, now in a new translation and published in one volume.Colette’s Chéri (1920) and its sequel, The End of Chéri (1926), are widely considered her masterpieces. In sensuous, elegant prose, the two novels explore the evolving inner lives and the intimate relationship of an unlikely couple: Léa de Lonval, a middle-aged former courtesan, and Fred Peloux, twenty-five years her junio...

Set in pre-war Paris, Julie de Carneilhan tells of the complex relationship between proud but impoverished Julie and her former husband, the Comte d'Espivant, who has remarried a wealth widow. Julie de Carneilhan was the last full-length novel Colette was to write as was 'as close a reckoning with the elements of her second marriage as she ever allowed herself.'In Chance Acquaintances Colette visits a health resort accompanied only by her cat. While there, she befriends the handsome Gerard...

Edited and with an introduction by Robert PhelpsThe hundred short stories collected here include such masterpieces as 'Bella-Vista', 'The Tender Shoot' and 'Le K-pi', Colette's subtle and ruthless rendering of a woman's belated sexual awakening. Shot through with the colours and flavours of the Parisian world and fertile French countryside, these short stories reverberate with the fine-spun desire, wit and psychological acuity that made Colette unique.

‘Fine teeth, my girl. With teeth like that I’d have gobbled up Paris and the rest of the world.'Gigi, a teenage girl in fin-de-siècle Paris, is being groomed by her family to become a high-class courtesan, just like her aunt and grandmother before her. But despite their best efforts, their timid protégée may have other ideas for her future...Colette's famous novella is a sly and delicate depiction of exploitation and resistance, and is paired here with the...

Let’s be clear. We are all equal under the law. However, even in these more modern times that is not an absolute and still remains a distant ambition for many.In the days when Britain ruled the waves and bestrode the world as its policeman and plunderer in chief it also subjugated half of its own people to second class status. Women were chattel and property. There were some exceptions based on wealth and birthright but for the overwhelming majority your lot was to fall in with the...

Largely autobiographical, La Vagabonde recalls the author’s own years as a dance-hall performer in turn-of-the-century Paris. Colette takes the listener backstage and into the demimonde of Renée Néré, an aging dancer, mime, and failed writer. In a sultry, passionate, and intelligent voice, Renée narrates the story of her romance with an admirer named Maxime. Her struggle is that of a woman who must choose between freedom and love.

Barks and Purrs is a collection of seven episodes in the lives of Toby-Dog, a French Bulldog, and Kiki-the-Demure, a Maltese cat, living in a comfortable household. The episodes cover a hot afternoon, a train ride, and what happened when dinner was late or their mistress was ill. We hear about the first fire in autumn, a heavy storm, and about a visitor in the household.Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette-Willy was throughout her life a controversial French novelist. She published around 50 ...

The stories in "Barks and Purrs" are charming and often whimsical, offering insightful and humorous glimpses into the lives of these beloved pets. Colette's writing style is known for its keen observation, vivid descriptions, and a deep understanding of the animals' behaviors and personalities.Through these stories, Colette captures the essence of the relationships between humans and their furry companions, portraying the animals' distinctive traits and the unique bonds they form with thei...

Claudine in Paris continues the audacious diary of Colette's teenage heroine as she exchanges provincial classrooms for the glitter and grit of Belle Époque Paris. The novel charts her initiation into salons, theaters, and school corridors, where flirtation, rivalry, and schemes mingle with curiosities about desire and independence. Written in a supple first-person that moves from epigram to vignette, the book blends comedy of manners with a naturalist attention to bodies and streets. It s...

Journey through the sexual underworld of Belle Époque Paris in the first new English translation of Colette’s masterpiece in nearly sixty years.Lyrical, allusive, sometimes obscure, yet precise, The Pure and the Impure has elicited equal parts consternation and praise since its publication nearly 100 years ago. Colette herself was unequivocal: “I believe it to be my best book.” Through strikingly vivid and evocative portraits, many of them of her friends a...