Monsieur Pain (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780811217149)

Paris, 1938. The Peruvian poet C sar Vallejo is in the hospital, afflicted with an undiagnosed illness, and unable to stop hiccuping. His wife calls on an acquaintance of her friend Madame Reynaud: the Mesmerist Pierre Pain. Pain, a timid bachelor, is in love with the widow Reynaud, and agrees to help. But two mysterious Spanish men follow Pain and bribe him not to treat Vallejo, and Pain takes the money. Ravaged by guilt and anxiety, however, he does not intend to abandon his new patient, but then Pain's access to the hospital is barred and Madame Reynaud leaves Paris.... Another practioner of the occult sciences enters the story (working for Franco, using his Mesmeric expertise to interrogate prisoners)--as do Mme. Curie, tarot cards, an assassination, and nightmares. Meanwhile, Monsieur Pain, haunted and guilty, wanders the crepuscular, rainy streets of Paris...

Author: Roberto Bola
ISBN-10: 0811217140
ISBN-13: 9780811217149
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Language: English
Published: 01/01/2010
Pages: 144
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.69lbs
Size: 8.32h x 5.84w x 0.68d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/23/2009 pg. 39
Library Journal 01/15/2010 pg. 85
Booklist 02/01/2010 pg. 28
New York Times Book Review 02/07/2010 pg. 7