Lavinia An Old Tale

This novelette set in 19th century France reveals a heroine of remarkable emotional stamina and a sense of self-worth--purchased at the cost of betrayed naievte. Like a drama where the protagonist does not "enter" until our curiosity has been sufficiently whetted by premilinary gossip, Lavinia herself--no longer ingenuous but still a dusky beauty--bursts upon the stage as full blown woman, eminently desirable and self possessed. Sir Henry, who had jilted her in the past, aided and abetted by his gayblade buddy, Lionel, stages a risky rendez-vous repossess his old love letters and trinkets before his impending marriage. But Lavinia does not swoon at his feet, begging his return, which annoys his masculine ego. Ah no, poor Henry sees the amorous tables turned upon himself. Much of the novel is like a play: there are "scenes" and "acts;" there is a preponderance of dialogue that would make this work a pleasure to stage. Sand spares nothing in villifying French 19th century "Society," with its highly restrictive women's roles and impossible demands placed on the fair sex. So which suitor will win la belle Lavinia: panting and repentant Sir Henry or a rich young Count--equally besotted? This novelette of 45 pages seems a cleverly disguised treatise/expose on the foibles and injustice of French society, at whose tyrannical hands George Sand herself may have suffered. But expect a surprise ending, for Lavinia may do that which real women dare not. Almost mortally wounded in affairs of the heart, Lavinia will remain true to her instinct of self-preservation: physical and moral. This a fast read, which may appear lite, almost trite; but this piece actually simmers with Sand's scathing denunciation of her constricted world.