Orlanda: A Novel

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The groundbreaking novel about a woman whose subconscious mind splinters and finds itself in the body of a young man, from the author of I Who Have Never Known Men. Now in paperback with a new foreword by Isle McElroy for the 30th anniversary of its original publication. The groundbreaking novel about a woman whose subconscious mind splinters and finds itself in the body of a young man, from the author of I Who Have Never Known Men. Now in paperback with a new foreword by Isle McElroy for the 30th anniversary of its original publication. One afternoon in a cafe across the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, Aline Berger, a literature professor, struggles to re-read Virginia Woolf's Orlando, when an odd feeling comes over her. Suddenly, part of her consciousness splits off and finds itself in the body of an attractive young man named Lucien L frene, who works as a rock journalist. In this newfound body, Aline's splintered mind names themselves Orlanda in homage to Virginia Woolf as a woman who has now become a man. Orlanda begins to follow Aline. And when the two meet again in Belgium, Aline subconsciously sheds her prim tendencies for a more assertive presence, as she begins to understand that Orlanda was born from her own psyche. Orlanda is the assertive, confident, and amorous person, who loves men unabashedly, that Aline has always aspired to be but could never become. The more time the two spend together, the less time they can stand to be apart. This lyrical novel is a stunning portrait of a woman who is forced to confront every part of her soul and embrace herself fully.

Reviews

"As sophisticated, clear, and witty as it is sexy, abstract, and introspective. Absolutely original."
Eliot Duncan, author of Ponyboy


A twisting, teasing exploration of sexuality, inner motives and desires Harpman cleverly manipulates an elusive narrative 'I' and shifting perspectives in cool, insouciant, yet seductive style, to attack the well-worn existentialist query, 'Who am I' Publishers Weekly


Harpman artfully shapes this lighthearted gender confusion into a witty comment on the incompatibilityand interdependencyof the sexes. Kirkus Reviews


Imagination. Jacqueline Harpman certainly doesn't lack any. . . . With incredible mastery, she juggles with identities, intertwines desires and fears, fantasies and frustrations. L'Express

Author Bio

JACQUELINE HARPMAN was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929. Being half Jewish, the family moved to Casablanca when the Nazis invaded and returned home after the war. After studying French literature she started training to be a doctor, but could not complete her medical studies when she contracted tuberculosis. She turned to writing in 1954 and her first work was published in 1958. In 1980 she qualified as a psychoanalyst. She had given up writing after her fourth book was published, and resumed her career as a novelist only some twenty years later.