Astral Amour

<p>Astral amour by Willy (Henry Gauthier-Villars 1859-1931 Colette’s husband) was originally published as an eight-part serial in the Nouvelle Revue between December 1900 and April 1901 and was never reprinted in book form.<br /> <br />As an account of the social and psychological aspects of the occult revival in the 19th century Astral Amour does have the advantage of a unique originality. It is more a commentary on occult fantasy than an occult fantasy in its own right although it is willing to use the fantastic as a casual literary device for the purpose of that examination. Neurocyme the elemental woman given flesh by the novel’s protagonists Enogat de Sothermès and Doctor Callidulus is described by them as a mixture of illusion and irony—and the same alchemical combination applies to the text which is simultaneously all illusion and all irony.</p>