Mouchette (French: Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette) is a 1937 novel by the French writer Georges Bernanos. It tells the story of a 14-year-old peasant girl who is raped and has a number of humiliating encounters. The novel's theme of misery was inspired by Bernanos' experiences from the Spanish Civil War.[1] The book was published in English in 1966, translated by J.C. Whitehouse.[2]
 Mouchette | |
| Author | Georges Bernanos |
|---|---|
| Original title | Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette |
| Language | French |
| Publisher | Plon |
Publication date | 1937 |
| Publication place | France |
Published in English | 1966 |
| Pages | 223 |
Reception
editHarry T. Moore wrote in The Saturday Review in 1966: "Somewhat less rhetorical than his other work, it is more generally poetic in style, at least in this translation by J.C. Whitehouse. But even here Bernanos indulges his habit of interrupting the narrative to make comments...Mouchette nevertheless comes through as a strong novel, which above all shows that evil is the absence of good (or God)."[3]
Adaptation
editThe novel was the basis for Robert Bresson's 1967 film Mouchette.[4]
References
edit- ^ Curran, Beth Kathryn (2006). "The Heroine's Redemption in Bernanos' Nouvelle histoire de Mouchette". Touching God: The Novels of Georges Bernanos in the Films of Robert Bresson. New York City: P. Lang. p. 65. ISBN 0-8204-7826-1.
- ^ Mouchette. OCLC 914201. Retrieved 2016-01-23 – via WorldCat.
- ^ Moore, Harry T. (1966-11-19). "Life Was a School for Despair". The Saturday Review. pp. 44–46.
- ^ "Mouchette". bifi.fr (in French). Cinémathèque Française. Retrieved 2016-01-23.