Un Profil Perdu

Rights sold to: Bulgaria (Fama), Czech Republic (Motto), Russia (Eksmo), They have come to the end of their marriage. They go to a dinner together for the last time. One last time, they put on the show of the perfect couple. Alan, the handsome American, has proved to be mortally jealous, and Josée, his wife, knows she can no longer tolerate it. At the dinner, Josée meets Julius A. Cram. Short, balding, bespectacled. He is respected and universally feared, particularly by his friends, and has a reputation as a shark in the financial world, which is how he comes to be a multimillionaire.
Julius is taken with Josée, and decides to help her escape from her failed marriage.
Josée submits willingly and, within a few days, has found a laughably cheap studio, a job for an exciting review and her place in Julius's exclusive and snobbish circle of friends. She is rather bored in this world, but accepts Julius's friendship and company, and quickly forgets her past with Alan. As for Julius, he appears to be interested only in Josée's life and to expect nothing in exchange. Friendship for free.
But is anything ever really for free? Josée's friends don't seem to think so, and she herself has her doubts. But how comforting to feel like a somebody again, to feel respected, almost admired, to have a position.
The truth eventually erupts when Josée finally finds love. How can Julius bear not to be the one she loves? Will Josée dare to leave this new gilded cage?
A magnificent novel about love, and a perfect description of the comforts of bad faith.
Françoise Sagan is a major Twentieth Century author who triumphed with Bonjour Tristesse, followed by many plays and novels, all of which were successful. The success of Toxique, Des yeux de soie and Des bleus à l'âme, republished by Stock in autumn 2009, proves - if proof were needed - the fervent response Sagan still elicits. She wrote her own obituary for the Dictionary of Authors, compiled by Jérôme Garcin: "Appeared in 1954 with a slender novel, Bonjour Tristesse, which created a scandal worldwide. Her death, after a life and a body of work that were equally pleasant and botched, was a scandal only for herself." Up until 2011, Stock will continue to publish all of Sagan's titles from the 1970s and 1980s.