MELANIE

A difficult book to place, a semi-psychological story of two people, neither sufficiently attractive to arouse any particular reaction, all with a distinct foreign flavor. Albert, a young student, is an indistinct, indecisive young man who becomes enveloped by Melanie, a widow several years older who is motivated by a desire for power only. Hysterical, unbalanced, she cries havoc on every occasion, fabricating suspicions and jealousies, feigning suicides, until finally he abets one of her suicidal attempts by increasing the dose. Haunted by the crime, he finally clears his conscience and a way to a happier life with Anna, his secretary.