''La Belle Image'' (1941) is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by French writer

Marcel Aymé Marcel Aymé (29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children. Biography Marcel André Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Burgundy region of France, the youngest of si ...

that has been described as "

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

's ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

'' in reverse."

Composition

After

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

declared war on

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 3 September 1939, and during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, Aymé was in Cape Ferret, but returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the end of August. ''La Belle Image'' was begun during the summer of 1940 and completed between September and October of that year. Aymé believed that the war would last at least ten years, and his

pessimistic Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empt ...

mood is apparent throughout the novel. The work first appeared as a serial in ''

Aujourd'hui ''Aujourd'hui'' (, ''Today'') was a daily newspaper which styled itself as "independent" and which was created in August 1940 by Henri Jeanson, to replace ''le Canard enchaîné'' under agreement with the Germans. The first issue appeared on ...

'', from 15 December 1940 to 14 January 1941, with illustrations by . It was published by Gallimard towards the end of January 1941.

Plot

''La Belle Image'' is the story of Raoul Cerusier, an upstanding, hard-working, but suspicious businessman, whose dull and unattractive face is transformed into one that is young, handsome, and seductive. His office colleagues no longer recognize him, nor does his wife, whom he must then seduce, thereby cuckolding himself.

English translations

''La Belle Image'' was translated as ''The Second Face'' by

Norman Denny Norman George Denny (1901–1982), also known under the pseudonyms Norman Dale and Bruce Norman, was an English writer and translator. He was born in Kent, later living for two years in Mexico City where his father was a mining engineer, before ...

for the

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

in 1951 and by

Sophie Lewis Sophie Lewis (born 2002) is a British and English track cyclist. Cycling career Lewis became a British champion when winning the Omnium event at the 2022 British National Track Championships. In addition she won a silver medal in the madison e ...

as ''Beautiful Image'' for

Pushkin Press Pushkin Press is a British-based publishing house dedicated to publishing novels, essays, memoirs and children's books. The London-based company was founded in 1997 and is notable for publishing authors such as Stefan Zweig, Marcel Aymé, Anta ...

in 2008; Denny's translation has also appeared under the title ''The Grand Seduction''.

Film adaptation

The book was filmed by

Claude Heymann Claude Heymann (13 November 1907 – 13 April 1994) was a French screenwriter and film director.Frey p.78 Selected filmography * '' American Love'' (1931) * '' Idylle au Caire'' (1933) * ''The Brighton Twins'' (1936) * ''Paris-New York'' (1 ...

in 1951.

References

1941 French novels Novels by Marcel Aymé {{1940s-novel-stub

Composition

Plot

English translations

Film adaptation

See also

References