Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman

The groundbreaking novel about a woman whose subconscious mind splinters and finds itself in the body of a young man, from the author of I Who Have Never Known Men.

One afternoon in a café across the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, Aline Berger, a literature professor, struggles to re-read Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, when an odd feeling comes over her. Suddenly, part of her consciousness splits off and finds itself in the body of an attractive young man named Lucien Lèfrene, who works as a rock journalist. In this newfound body, Aline’s splintered mind names themselves Orlanda in homage to Virginia Woolf as a woman who has now become a man.

REVIEWS

"As sophisticated, clear, and witty as it is sexy, abstract, and introspective. Absolutely original."—Eliot Duncan, author of Ponyboy

“A twisting, teasing exploration of sexuality, inner motives and desires … Harpman cleverly manipulates an elusive narrative 'I' and shifting perspectives in cool, insouciant, yet seductive style, to attack the well-worn existentialist query, 'Who am I?'” –Publishers Weekly

“Harpman artfully shapes this lighthearted gender confusion into a witty comment on the incompatibility—and interdependency—of the sexes.” –Kirkus Reviews

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback 
Publisher: Vintage Classics
ISBN: 978-1529950854
Pages: 224