Lovers and Tyrants

by Francine du Plessix Gray

Book Overview

First published to rave reviews in 1967, this compelling novel follows Stephanie from her childhood in France, through her father's mysterious disappearance, her emigration to America, her adolescence in New York, her marriage, her children, and ultimately her self-liberation, with each phase illustrating the painful ambivalence toward the irreconcilable poles of love and freedom.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671223380
• ISBN13: 9780671223380
• Release Date: October 1976
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A woman's search for freedom

_Lovers and Tyrants_ follows the life of Stephanie from her childhood in France to her schooling in New York to her stint as a reporter in Paris to her very American marriage all the way through to her final attempt at being free. One of the interesting things about the book is the way the voice of the writers changes between the different sections-- from the precious voice of memoir in the childhood section to a kind of drunken free-flow in her days as a Paris reporter. Parts of the book *do* feel dated in an unpleasant sort of way because of the strong dependence on the sixties ethos, but the writing is good enough that this can generally be forgiven.