An Idyll in Sodom

Georges de Lys

Translated by Brian Stableford

Georges de Lys’s An Idyll in Sodom, originally published in 1889, and here made available in its first English translation, by Brian Stableford, is a significant contribution to a subgenre of French Romantic fiction consisting of lush representations of “moeurs antiques” [ancient mores], a spectacular landmark of which was established with Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert, to whom the current novel is, in fact, dedicated.

“Georges de Lys” was the pseudonym of Georges Fontaine de Bonnerive (1855-1931), an army officer and literary maverick, and An Idyll in Sodom, with its robust approach to plotting and its muscular images of male beauty, illustrates the near-paradoxicality of the idea of a soldierly Decadent fantasy. Notable for its rich descriptions and orgiastic excesses, the book is an extravagant feat of lyrical strength, and its author deserves to be reckoned an important pioneer in the context of the Decadent Movement of the fin-de-siècle.

About the Author

Georges de Lys (1855-1931) was the pseudonym of Georges Fontaine de Bonnerive. He was in service when he published all of his early work, which included three poetry collections, beginning with Les Idoles (1884) and one naturalistic novel, Raymond Meyreuil (1886), before he published Une Idyll à Sedôm (1889). He went on to publish Penthesilea (1896), and numerous other novels, volumes of poetry and military studies, but little attention has been paid to him by orthodox literary historians, perhaps partly because the violent eroticism of the Une Idyll à Sedôm cast a shadow over his reputation from which it never entirely recovered, in spite of two of his subsequent works being awarded prizes by the Académie française.

Paperback, 200 pages
1st edition: January 26, 2021
ISBN-13: 978-1-64525-057-9
Price: US$15.00