ABOUT THE BOOK
Psyche is a modern fairy tale. It is also an adult fairy tale and like most fairy tales unmitigating in its detailing of harsh cruelty. Psyche is a descendant of the original Psyche whom Cupid loved, but this love story is even less straightforward, even more tortured than the archetypal Greek myth from which it derives. Couperus considered this his symbolist masterpiece. The symbolism that it uses is that of luxuriousness, hardness and beauty of precious stones that create the Imaginary and reflect the identity of the novel's landscapes and protagonists.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LOUIS COUPERUS was born in The Hague in 1863. Following his family's move to the the Dutch East Indies, he was educated in Jakarta. In 1878 the family returned to The Hague, where Couperus continued his studies. He was married in 1891. His novel Ecstasy was first published a year later and Psyche followed in 1898; both available from Pushkin Press. Couperus and his wife eventually settled in Nice until 1910, when they travelled extensively in Italy. A renowned wit, raconteur and commentator, Couperus continued to publish critically and commercially successful work until his death from blood poisoning in 1923.
Translated by B S Berrington
ISBN 978 1901285 21 5
239 pp
