The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Children of Pithiviers by Sheila Kohler
Irving Malin

Sheila Kohler. Children of Pithiviers. Zoland, 2001. 204 pp. $21.00.

This novel is an astonishing, seductive, sinister nocturne. The narrator returns in her memory to a small town in France she knew when she was turning eighteen. She describes a decaying castle in which she resided after being exiled from Paris because of an abortion that shocked her family. Her descriptions are disturbing: "The elegance of that room always made me uneasy. Did I notice it at first? Or was it only later that I became aware of the dark marks of the paintings no longer hanging on the walls, of the faint stains around the edges of the silk curtains, a dimness that suggested something slightly soiled?" And when she meets the occupants of the castle-Madame and Monsieur, Luis and Dubres, the servants-she is unsure about them, their subtly orchestrated remarks and movements. She remarks: "Madame sighed again and said youth lasted too short a time, and one should enjoy every moment of it. Somehow it sounded almost a threat, and I felt the same sense of unease I had earlier. An expectant silence hung in the big half-empty room. All we could hear was the sob of water beneath the house." The omens she senses will bear fruit later when she finds out the significance of the water and the obscure alliance of unspoken words and polite conversation. Clearly, we are caught in some elaborate, perverse ritual. The young woman slowly understands that she is a victim, a sacrificial lamb who will be exploited by all the occupants of the castle. And she will also grasp the fact that she wants to be violated, and at the same time to violate the others. These perverse pleasures echo events that occurred in 1942 when children hid in the castle to escape Nazi occupation. Exile, betrayal, the loss of innocence-these elements become more pronounced as the novel plays with revelation and concealment. Children of Pithiviers is an unforgettable performance of dread and pleasure-a stunning experience. [Irving Malin]


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The Review of Contemporary Fiction Children of Pithiviers by Sheila Kohler Irving Malin Sheila Kohler. Children of Pithiviers. Zoland, 2001. 204 pp. $21.00. This novel is an astonishing, seductive, sinister nocturne. The narrator returns in her memory to a small town in France she knew when she was turning eighteen. She describes a decaying castle in which she resided after being exiled from Paris because of an abortion that shocked her family. Her descriptions are disturbing: "The elegance of that room always made me uneasy. Did I notice it at first? Or was it only later that I became aware of the dark marks of the paintings no longer hanging on the walls, of the faint stains around the edges of the silk curtains, a dimness that suggested something slightly soiled?" And when she meets the occupants of the castle-Madame and Monsieur, Luis and Dubres, the servants-she is unsure about them, their subtly orchestrated remarks and movements. She remarks: "Madame sighed again and said youth lasted too short a time, and one should enjoy every moment of it. Somehow it sounded almost a threat, and I felt the same sense of unease I had earlier. An expectant silence hung in the big half-empty room. All we could hear was the sob of water beneath the house." The omens she senses will bear fruit later when she finds out the significance of the water and the obscure alliance of unspoken words and polite conversation. Clearly, we are caught in some elaborate, perverse ritual. The young woman slowly understands that she is a victim, a sacrificial lamb who will be exploited by all the occupants of the castle. And she will also grasp the fact that she wants to be violated, and at the same time to violate the others. These perverse pleasures echo events that occurred in 1942 when children hid in the castle to escape Nazi occupation. Exile, betrayal, the loss of innocence-these elements become more pronounced as the novel plays with revelation and concealment. Children of Pithiviers is an unforgettable performance of dread and pleasure-a stunning experience. [Irving Malin]

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