Gifted women and sexuality in classics--ARIANE, a girl who plays a "man's game" and FALLING, a mature woman "played" in a conman's lethal game,
ARIANE a Russian Girl by Claude Anet (New York Review of Books ) is set in 1920s provincial Russia, though its teen heroine's attitude toward men is pure pop diva. Yet in this time and place, men might rule women from birth to death, but Ariane's life was her own. Her aunt may be an influence, a rare educated woman and a physician, who's chosen to pursue a happy single life.. Then past 40, Ariane is shocked to see her proud aunt humilated, ruined by "romantic love." Weaponizing her beauty and intelligence, Ariane becomes popular among men of her class, young and old with money and titles, who assume she is marriageable. Yet, the only expectations she entertains are to pursue her education at the university in Moscow. When her final exams are "brilliant," and she's accepted by the elite Moscow university, Ariane's thrilled, though her father to pay. He demands she arrive at his home and prepare to marry his friend. Legally, at 17, Ariane...