Women Lovers, or the Third Woman

This long-lost novel recounts a passionate triangle of love and loss among three of the most daring women of belle époque Paris. In this barely disguised roman à clef, the legendary American heiress, writer, and arts patron Natalie Clifford Barney becomes the character N., the dashing Italian baroness Mimi Franchetti is M., and the beautiful French courtesan Liane de Pougy is L. Barney writes of an erotic liaison that breaks all taboos but also reveals N.’s vulnerability as she unexpectedly becomes the devastated “third woman.” The story ends with a powerful dialogue on the challenges of love.

Never before published in English, and only recently published in French, this modernist, experimental work has been brought to light by Chelsea Ray’s research. It reveals a more complex Natalie Barney and expands modernist literary representations of lesbian love. Ray’s translation is augmented by her essay and notes highlighting themes of modernism and queer studies, as well as by Melanie Hawthorne’s introduction.