Burning houses1986

"In Burning Houses, Andrew Harvey has taken the novel form and extended it to grand opera, with all its glitter and drama, flourish and tragedy. Charles, a writer living Paris, is invited by Adolphe, a famous film director, to read his novel to him. Their meetings enmesh the reader in two plots: one developing in the encounters between Charles and Adolphe; the other contained in Charles's novel, the account of his relationship with Mark, a married man. Like a turning crystal, the story reveals the facets of love: the sexual passion between Charles and Mark; the long friendship between Charles and Anna (an outspoken beauty who appears in both plots); and the luminous platonic love between Adolphe and Charles that is akin to a merging of souls. Each character undergoes a transformation, a growth into knowledge that brings the reader to a deep understanding of self-awareness through suffering, honesty, and humor"--Dust jacket flap.