Bloomsbury £7.99

Harm's Way, By Celia Walden

3.00

A "womb of comfort" has sheltered 18-year-old Anna from pain and loss. Through nepotism, a job is secured for her at a Paris museum where she hopes for an éducation sentimentale. A friend of a friend, Beth, takes Anna under her attractive 40-year-old wing, and they thereafter gorge themselves on huge slices of tarte tatin.

Sexual appetites are just as insatiable. Morally unscrupulous Anna begins an affair with Beth's French boyfriend, Christian. Her ignorance of real suffering is exposed in nauseating sentences such as: "Christian and I were a static island, shadows frozen like Hiroshima victims."

"La vie est mal faite" – "life is badly made" – is the French saying with which Anna attempts to excuse her proclivities. Fiction is not always perfectly made, either, and by the end no authentic pain has been evoked, although Anna admires her own "new depth of experience". Walden fascinatingly reveals, however, the extraordinary levels of selfishness pervading a world in which wallets and libido are larger than hearts and minds.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus

Day In a Page

Picture preview: Lucian Freud drawings

Lucian Freud drawings

Picture preview
Silent revolution at the Baftas as the French take top awards

Silent revolution at the Baftas

The Artist wins in seven categories, with Meryl Streep the other big success story
Whitney Houston: The diva who had – and lost – it all

The diva who had – and lost – it all

Nick Hasted charts the highs and lows of Whitney Houston's life
How Picasso won over (some of) the British

How Picasso won over (some of) the British

Winston Churchill and Evelyn Waugh hated his work, but Picasso provided inspiration for a whole generation of UK artists
Topshop: A Decade Of Design

Topshop: A Decade Of Design

When London Fashion Week starts on Friday, Topshop will celebrate 10 years backing its brightest young stars
John Prescott: 'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

At 73, John Prescott isn't mellowing. In fact he's taking a shot at becoming a police commissioner
Jim Gamble: We are losing the race to protect our young

Jim Gamble: We are losing the race to protect our young

Technology and the children who use it won't wait for slow-moving child-protection services and police to catch up
Sarah Sands: A friend is not the one you turn to, but the person who turns to you

Sarah Sands on friendship

A friend is not the one you turn to, but the person who turns to you
Andy Burnham: 'It's a genie out of the bottle moment'

Andy Burnham interview

'It's a genie out of the bottle moment'
Leveson: What we've learnt so far

Leveson: What we've learnt so far

Ingenious hacks, shifty editors and attacks of Sudden Memory Loss Syndrome – Matthew Bell assesses the state of play at the Royal Courts of Justice
Modern lovers: The 'sexual body warriors' and pioneers transforming 21st-century relationships

Modern lovers: The 'sexual body warriors'

Sarah Morrison meets the people redefining love in the 21st century.
'I was angry, so angry': How heartbreak, betrayal and Su Pollard helped Estelle find pop success

Estelle: 'I was angry, so angry'

The singer talks about heartache, betrayal and bouncing back.
Choc tactics: Bill Granger's Valentine's recipes for chocoholics

Bill Granger's Valentine's recipes for chocoholics

Should it be white, milk or plain? Can you make a melt-in-the-mouth pudding without using any?
Male, pale & stale: Could more women on the board help Mothercare – and other ailing firms?

Male, pale & stale

Could more women on the board help Mothercare – and other ailing firms?
Upstairs, downstairs, 2012-style

Upstairs, downstairs, 2012-style

There are now more domestic workers in Britain than in Edwardian times