A review by msjoanna
Retreat from Love by Colette

4.0

Continuing on my Colette binge, I picked this one because Harold Bloom includes it in his Western Canon. This was actually my least favorite of the the 5 Colette books that I've read in quick succession (the others were [b:Dialogues de bêtes|1923550|Dialogues de bêtes|Colette|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1190385922s/1923550.jpg|1223363], [b:Cheri & The Last of Cheri|89841|Cheri & The Last of Cheri|Colette|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317064747s/89841.jpg|1022253], and [b:The Vagabond|89842|The Vagabond|Colette|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317065540s/89842.jpg|903111]). Fundamentally, I never believed the central love story between Claudine, the narrator, and the absent Renaud. Perhaps I would of liked the story better if I had read the 4 previous Claudine novels. I quite enjoyed reading about Annie, even without the back story that I would have had from the previous novels. Though Annie was describing salacious events from her life, the modern reader will not find the descriptions overly sexy or embarrassing.

Colette is a master of language and manages to capture emotions, natural beauty, and the antics of her dog and cat perfectly. I'll continue to look for more by this author.