STRAIT IS THE GATE

A delicate boy growing up in Paris, Jerome Palissier spends many summers at his
uncle's house in the Normandy countryside, where the whole world seems 'steeped
in azure'. There he falls deeply in love with his cousin Alissa and she with him
. But gradually Alissa becomes convinced that Jerome's love for her is endangeri
ng his soul.



In the interests of his salvation, she decides to suppress every
thing that is beautiful in herself - in both mind and body. A devastating explor
ation of aestheticism taken to extremes, "Strait is the Gate" is a novel of haun
ting beauty that stimulates the mind and the emotions.