From Publishers Weekly
James Jessel was an unappealing child, to his parents, his teachers and himself. His 16th summer, spent in the south of France with schoolmate Waldo Klein, has provided him with the most powerful memories of his youth, all centering around the voluptuous, sensual, idle Mrs. Klein. James and Waldo maintain their acquaintance and 50 years later, after Waldo disappears, James returns to Antibes with his wife, searching for his friend and for meaning. James's memories are revivified but they disclose no secrets. He meets a disillusioned young hitchhiker; his wife picks up a strange couple; and he does see Waldo, working in a seedy circus. That Waldo has returned to this place brings James some consolation. This elliptical novel by a veteran British author offers little in the way of story but is marked by acute observations and ruthless unsentimentality.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
An awkward and solitary boy at school, James Jessel is surprised to find himself befriended by the impetuous, self-assured Waldo Klein, and bemused by Waldo's invitation to spend the holidays with him and his mother (a 'ravishing beauty', warns Waldo) in the south of France. On the Klein's ramshackle farm in the hills of Provence, Jessel experiences the single most important event - or sensation - of his life. The voluptuous and sensual Mrs Klein is a creature whose sexuality and presence leaves Jessel dumbfounded. He is entranced, and senses a magic he has never known before. When, many years later, Waldo disappears leaving no clue to his whereabouts, Jessel's ordered world is overturned once more. If he is ever to know magic again, he must find Waldo, and so he returns to France to confront his past - and, indeed, his future.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
