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THE HEAD OF MONSIEUR M by Althea Urn

THE HEAD OF MONSIEUR M

By

Pub Date: Sept. 21st, 1961
Publisher: Crown

A wide eyed innocent, Madame Clotilde Malheureusement, discovers on her bridal night that her husband, Monsieur Henri Malheureusement, customarily removes his head when he goes to bed because of the great volume of weighty knowledge he has accumulated and must utilize each day in his position at the Chamber of Deputies. Believing that this dreadfully exciting secret is revealed to all wives, Madame Clotilde discusses the phenomenon with her best friend, Madame Gaston du Pris, who immediately makes a play for M. Henri. The news of Henri's head spreads, and he becomes the most sought-after man in Paris. In her loneliness, Madame Clotilde meets and falls desperately in love with Charron-Philippe St. Eustache and carries on a brief, gloriously romantic affair with him while she poses as a poor little milliner. Social duty forces Madame Clotilde to return to Henri (though he continues to be unfaithful) and, at the very end of this tedious drawing-room comedy set among the bourgeoisie of 20th-century France, lovely Clotilde suddenly becomes hysterical while eating dinner with Henri, removes her own head, and announces that they really only need one head between them in bed. This is poorly written, boring, and barely hangs together at any point.