It was a book written by Alexandre Dumas fils, and it had never been even as remotely famous as any of his father’s work like The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo. The story had served as the basis for La Traviata, one of the most popular operas of all time—and the one Maddie had just teased me about since I had dragged her to it two out of the ten times I had seen it at the Met. And yet the book had remained almost unknown—rarely translated and hard to find in the United States. It was The Lady of the Camellias.
Before The Lending Library, I wrote a novel that was never published, set in Paris in the Belle Époque period (at the turn of the twentieth century), about a young male writer who falls in love with a courtesan. When I was writing that book, I came across The Lady of the Camellias and was absolutely floored by how much great literature and art it had inspired, including play and film adaptations of the book itself, the opera La Traviata (which some people feel influenced La Boheme, which inspired Rent) . . . The list goes on! While Dodie's story is contemporary, I loved the idea that as a bibliophile she found insight and solace in books, and it seemed natural that a book about a great love story would help her see her own situation in a new light.
One of the questions I received often from readers was, "Do you have a list of the books you mention in The Lending Library?" So I made one! You can find and download it on my website at https://alizafogelson.com/the-lending-library. What are some of your favorite love stories in literature?
