A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin — novel #265

  

There is no bleaker moment in the life of the city than that one which crosses the boundary lines between those who have not slept all night and those who are going to work. It was for Sabina as if two races of men and women lived on earth, the night people and the day people, never meeting face to face except at this moment.

 

·      Author: Anaïs Nin

·      American lit; Avant-garde

·      First Published: 1954

·      My edition: Sky Blue Press (eBook)

·      Setting: New York City, mid 1950s

 

A Spy in the House of Love is the story of Sabina, a thirty-year-old actress who leads a double life while facing an existential crisis of identity.

 

She is married to Alan, a gentle older man, who is more father-figure than lover. Sabina loves him for the security and normalcy he provides. But she is restless and has a series of brief affairs and lies to Alan by feigning acting commitments, in order to protect him.

I must always be on guard, to protect his happiness, always on guard to protect my guardian angel.

 

…so much did her feelings about Alan seem not like those of a woman wanting to be faithful or loyal but those of an adolescent escaping home for some forbidden games.

It’s unclear if Sabina has much of a professional acting career, though she is constantly acting, playing a part for Alan, her lovers, and indeed for herself. 

What I corrupted was what is called the truth in favor of a more marvelous world. I could always improve on the facts.

She thrills at the nearly casual encounters, but agonizes over the guilt. All the time she is desperately trying to form a perception of her own identity.

 

Sabina considers herself an “international spy in the house of love”—a clandestine participant, dangerously involved in scenes and lives to which she never belongs.

 

 

This book has been described as avant-garde:

 

…experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time.

[Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory]

 

That’s about right, and although I am not of the artistic establishment of any time, I didn’t find it acceptable. I’m probably very simple, but I have no use for too much navel-gazing and arcane babble.

 

I was nervous about reading this due to Nin’s association with Henry Miller. I find him obscene, arrogant, and insulting. So I had my misgivings about this, but I believe I gave it a good faith read. Nin portrayed Sabina’s affairs without being at all graphic, much less obscene—just scandalous. So, I don’t fault her for that. Nonetheless, I don’t believe I’ll be reading any more Anaïs Nin either. Though, at times she writes beautifully, as in the quotation at the opening of this review. Great title too! For those two points, I’ll give it a half-star bump to…

 

 

2 ½ /5 stars

 

 

 

 

This is title #32 of 50 for The Classics Club Challenge – Round IV

 

Am I too harsh? Is there some work by Anaïs Nin you recommend?

 

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