Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette

Judith Thurman is an intelligent, thoughtful biographer with a superb prose style to boot. It's an extremely satisfactory biographical experience to experience Colette through Thurman's filter.

Colette is one of those authors whose life is as fascinating as her writing, and this book ably describes the former, also containing many wonderful photos. Colette's uniquely sensitive yet unsentimental way of experiencing life has been a source of inspiration to me since I first discovered her as a preteen. One moment she can be devastated by the suffering of an animal, or write with exquisite insightfulness about the insecurities of her unconventional friends; the next she can swear off a failed marriage or friendship without a hint of pity (or self-pity). This book was very satisfying from the standpoint of her personal and family history, and contained extensive information about her long-standing affair with her teenaged stepson, which, while perhaps her most problematic moral transgression, certainly made for interesting reading. While the book was far less occupied with conveying the brilliance of Colette's writing, for that one need only go to the source. There is so much to learn from Colette's life; despite facing considerable hardships, she managed to thrive and celebrate all that she found beautiful and fascinating in nature, the theater, humanity -- really any topic to which she turned her magnificent vision. Betrayal was a major theme in her relationships, and the way that she survived and even exploited repeated psychic wounds, ultimately finding peace with a kind and compatible partner, is instructive and inspiring. She will always have a very special place in my heart, and I thank Ms. Thurman for making her more accessible.

I am reading the book for the second time (that is rare for me), excellent insight into the movers and shakers at the last turn of the century. Great references to other writers and artists whom Colette supported financially and emotionally. I am using the names she referred to frequently to create a list of women cross referencing their stories or biographies with hers. This book gave me an improved image of Colette and a desire to read more of her material.

Colette is not an easy person to like, and this biography is dense and thick with information and literary interpretation, meaning that it's not an "easy" or quick book to read. That said it is an accomplished, thoughtful book. Judith Thruman is an excellent writer and I personally was engrossed -- I really couldn't put this book down. But it is not for everyone. It is for those interested in Colette or at least in her milieu. Thurman gives a vivid sense of the time Colette lived in, and a persuasive look at her motivations, personality, and contradictions. She shows those of us who love Colette's writing that it is possible to enjoy a writer's books without necessarily admiring that person's life and deeds. It is a facinating dicotomy: how can a person, Colette, or anyone else, be so senstitive in her writing life, yet so insensitive to those who actually surrounded her? It is a question to which there is no answer, yet one which Thurman beautifully illustrates.

As a long-time reader and admirer of Colette's writings, I thoroughly enjoyed Judith Thurman's "Secrets of the Flesh", an accounting of Colette's life. This biography attempts neither to villefy Colette nor raise her to sainthood, but shows her to be very human, a real woman who became one of France's greatest writers. It is interesting to discover how autobiographical her writings and stories were. As an added bonus, the picture of Colette on the cover is totally mesmerizing.