The novel “The Twists of Love” is devoted to the lives of the upper circles of bourgeois society and is considered a genuine masterpiece of the psychological novel. It is distinguished by elegant, ironic tone and a subtle analysis of the shades of love and jealousy—an even deeper psychological exploration when Maupassant turns to his favorite device: letting events be illuminated by different characters. The first part of the novel, “Odilia,” is written from the viewpoint of Philippe Marsen and addressed to Isabelle de Chaverny. The second part, “Isabelle,” is written from Isabelle’s point of view.
The author explores the subtlest manifestations of human passions—now lifting the heroes to the peaks of delight, now plunging them into dark abysses of suffering.