My Double Life: The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt - Softcover

Bernhardt, Sarah

3.82

160 ratings by Goodreads

9781444445695: My Double Life: The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1444445693 ISBN 13: 9781444445695

Publisher: Aeterna, 2023

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Excerpt: ...he no doubt considered unkind, for he bore me malice for them, and attempted to avenge himself in the following way. He called on me one day, and Madame Gu�rard was there when he was shown in. "Do you know that I am all-powerful at present?" he said. "In these days there is nothing surprising in that," I replied. "I have come to see you, either to make peace or declare war," he continued. This way of talking did not suit me, and I sprang up. "As I can foresee that your conditions of peace would not suit me, cher Monsieur, I will not give you time to declare war. You are one of the men one would prefer, no matter how spiteful they might be, as enemies rather than friends." With these words I rang for my footman to show the Prefect of Police to the door. Madame Gu�rard was in despair. "That man will do us some harm, my dear Sarah, I assure you," she said. She was not mistaken in her presentiment, except that she was thinking of me and not of herself, for his first vengeance was taken on her, by sending away one of her relatives, who was a police commissioner, to an inferior and dangerous post. He then began to invent a hundred miseries for me. One day I received an order to go at once to the Prefecture of Police on urgent business. I took no notice. The following day a mounted courier brought me a note from Sire Raoul Rigault, threatening to send a prison van for me. I took no notice whatever of the threats of this wretch, who was shot shortly after and died without showing any courage. Life, however, was no longer possible in Paris, and I decided to go to St. Germain-en-Laye. I asked my mother to go with me, but she went to Switzerland with my youngest sister. The departure from Paris was not as easy as I had hoped. Communists with gun on shoulder stopped the trains and searched in all our bags and pockets, and even under the cushions of the railway carriages. They were afraid that the passengers were taking newspapers to Versailles. This was...

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Review:

The most tempestuous and possibly the most famous actress of her time, Bernhardt (1844-1923) kept a coffin by her bedroom window in which she lay "to learn my parts." Needless to say, the border between acting and life was tenuous for her. Bernhardt's two-volume memoir was originally published in English in an anonymous translation in 1907; this new translation, gracefully accomplished despite occasional anachronisms ("gofer"), is an abridgment of the first volume. Bernhardt, illegitimate although with some family money on both sides, is presented as both melodramatic and frustratingly discreet. ...Despite her failure to deliver on the teasing promise of her title, Bernhardt can be quite winning. She concludes by remarking, "My life, which I had at first expected to be very short, now seemed likely to be very very long; and it gave me great joy to think of the infernal displeasure that would cause my enemies." Publishers Weekly, February 8, 1999
Bernhardt was one of the leading international actresses of her day. This memoir is particularly interesting not only because of the light it sheds on theater, but also because of what it tells us about the role of an artist in a particularly troubled period of French history.
Larson s translation is very good and extremely readable. The only other version in English was published in the first decade of this century and is hopelessly out of date. Larson has taken pains to ensure that the language is contemporary but jargon-free, and the book is very well written. The translator s notes are an asset to readers who have no background knowledge of the period. Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick
This is one of the most interesting works I ve read in the last few years. I found it a compelling read from the very first page to the last. I wish there were another volume to follow! Anna St. Leger Lucas, McMaster University"

"The most tempestuous and possibly the most famous actress of her time, Bernhardt (1844-1923) kept a coffin by her bedroom window in which she lay "to learn my parts." Needless to say, the border between acting and life was tenuous for her. Bernhardt's two-volume memoir was originally published in English in an anonymous translation in 1907; this new translation, gracefully accomplished despite occasional anachronisms ("gofer"), is an abridgment of the first volume. Bernhardt, illegitimate although with some family money on both sides, is presented as both melodramatic and frustratingly discreet. ...Despite her failure to deliver on the teasing promise of her title, Bernhardt can be quite winning. She concludes by remarking, "My life, which I had at first expected to be very short, now seemed likely to be very very long; and it gave me great joy to think of the infernal displeasure that would cause my enemies." -- Publishers Weekly, February 8, 1999

"Bernhardt was one of the leading international actresses of her day. This memoir is particularly interesting not only because of the light it sheds on theater, but also because of what it tells us about the role of an artist in a particularly troubled period of French history.

"Larson's translation is very good and extremely readable. The only other version in English was published in the first decade of this century and is hopelessly out of date. Larson has taken pains to ensure that the language is contemporary but jargon-free, and the book is very well written. The translator's notes are an asset to readers who have no background knowledge of the period." -- Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick

"This is one of the most interesting works I've read in the last few years. I found it a compelling read from the very first page to the last. I wish there were another volume to follow!" -- Anna St. Leger Lucas, McMaster University

About the Author:

Victoria Tietze Larson is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State University. She is the author of The Role of Description in Senecan Tragedy.

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