House of Incest - Softcover

With an introduction by Allison Pease, this new edition of House of Incest is a lyrical journey into the subconscious mind of one of the most celebrated feminist writers of the twentieth-century.

Originally published in 1936, &;House of Incest &;is Anaïs Nin&;s first work of fiction. Based on Nin&;s dreams, the novel is a surrealistic look within the narrator&;s subconscious as she attempts to distance herself from a series of all-consuming and often taboo desires she cannot bear to let go. The incest Nin depicts is a metaphor&;a selfish love wherein a woman can appreciate only qualities in a lover that are similar to her own. Through a descriptive exploration of romances and attractions between women, between a sister and her beloved brother, and with a Christ-like man, Nin&;s narrator discovers what she thinks is truth: that a woman&;s most perfect love is of herself. At first, this self-love seems ideal because it is attainable without fear and risk of heartbreak. But in time, the narrator&;s chosen isolation and self-possessed anguish give way to a visceral nightmare from which she is unable to wake.