La Poupée Sanglante

A fantastical novel published in 1923. Christine, daughter of a clockmaker, possesses an automaton named Gabriel and is engaged to scientist Jacques Cotentin. Her neighbor, the physically disfigured bookbinder and poet Bénédict Masson, observes a mysterious young man of perfect appearance visiting her. One night, he overhears Christine pleading with her father not to kill "him." Though inspired by Hoffmann's tales and filled with strange