How would you react if your daughter married the infamous Marquis de Sade? Drawing on remaining correspondence this excellent, absorbing study features his devoted wife, implacable mother-in-law and dissolute relatives. The complexity of his character is compelling - his charm, love of theatre, unfashionable abhorrence of capital punishment and views on the sanctity of marriage are balanced by arrogance, selfishness and intolerance. The author reveals unexpected and surprising aspects of the man and his time.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 13 April 2002 ) |
