A vivid, believable love story between an older woman and a younger man. La de Lonval is a magnificent and aging courtesan facing the end of her career. She has devoted the last six years to the amorous education of the exquisitely handsome and spoilt Chri - a playboy half her age. When an advantageous marriage is arranged for Chri, La reluctantly decides their relationship must end. But neither lover can foresee how deeply they are connected, or how much they will have to give up. First published in 1920, it was instantly greeted by Marcel Proust and Andr Gide as a masterpiece. 'I devoured Chri at a gulp. What a wonderful subject and with what intelligence, mastery and understanding of the least-admitted secrets of the flesh' Andr Gide