Burning houses

the long version

"In Burning Houses, Andrew Harvey has taken the novel form and extended it to grand opera, with all its glitter and drama, flourish and tragedy. Charles, a writer living Paris, is invited by Adolphe, a famous film director, to read his novel to him. Their meetings enmesh the reader in two plots: one developing in the encounters between Charles and Adolphe; the other contained in Charles's novel, the account of his relationship with Mark, a married man. Like a turning crystal, the story reveals the facets of love: the sexual passion between Charles and Mark; the long friendship between Charles and Anna (an outspoken beauty who appears in both plots); and the luminous platonic love between Adolphe and Charles that is akin to a merging of souls. Each character undergoes a transformation, a growth into knowledge that brings the reader to a deep understanding of self-awareness through suffering, honesty, and humor"--Dust jacket flap.