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Anaïs Nin

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A Spy in the House of Love Paperback – May 1, 1994

by Anais Nin (Author)

4.0 346 ratings

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Sabina struggles to cope with her feelings of guilt as she loses herself in a series of different men

Print length

166 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pocket
Publication date

May 1, 1994
Dimensions

4.25 x 0.75 x 6.75 inches
ISBN-10

0671871390
ISBN-13

978-0671871390
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket; Reprint edition (May 1, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 166 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671871390
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671871390
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.75 x 6.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #80,584 in Erotic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.0 346 ratings

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Anaïs Nin

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Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) was born in Paris and aspired at an early age to be a writer. An influential artist and thinker, she wrote primarily fiction until 1964, when her last novel, Collages, was published. She wrote The House of Incest, a prose-poem (1936), three novellas collected in The Winter of Artifice (1939), short stories collected in Under a Glass Bell (1944), and a five-volume continuous novel consisting of Ladders to Fire (1946), Children of the Albatross (1947), The Four-Chambered Heart (1950), A Spy in the House of Love (1954), and Seduction of the Minotaur (1961). These novels were collected as Cities of the Interior (1974). She gained commercial and critical success with the publication of the first volume of her diary (1966); to date, fifteen diary volumes have been published. Her most commercially successful books were her erotica published as Delta of Venus (1977) and Little Birds (1979). Today, her books are appearing digitally, most notably with the anthology The Portable Anais Nin (2011).

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4 out of 5

346 global ratings

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GEM

Engaging read

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2018

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I downloaded this on my kindle before going in to get a large tattoo. I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn pages of a real book, so I used my kindle.

The tattoo artist orginally said it would be two four hour sessions. I got in the chair and started reading this book. Three hours later, my tattoo was completely finished - no need for a second session.

I didn’t even flinch because I was so engrossed. Get this book. The storyline isn’t particularly interesting, but Anais Nin writes with such artistry that it is truly grabbing.

13 people found this helpful

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Tara Tainton

Wanted More from Anais

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2005

After my introduction to Anais through reading "Henry and June," I adjusted to her casual style of writing in her diary and fell for her honesty and the intricacies of her mind. I wanted to find the same in this book.

There's no doubt that Anais's unique style, insights, and sense of description all appear in this work, but I think she left out the nitty gritty. She's capable of more. If nothing else, I'd love to see the book about 3 times or more this tiny length, enough space to really delve into Sabina's character, how she got to her breaking point, why she even chose that path in life.

For others considering reading "A Spy in the House of Love," I do recommend it as a unique look into the mind of a woman who's found herself leading separate lives for a single reason, who's in search of a happiness that alludes her, and never finds reason to really be herself, all of herself, at any one point in her life. The book is a psychological slice of a person...a person most of us are at one point in our lives as we seek to be our true selves in every moment, a lot of us never even reaching that point of complete freedom.

Anais also writes of the lure of sex, the psychological reasons why one may seek it out in any way possible, but the book isn't explicit in detail. That's left up to the reader's imagination as Anais only gives us the psychological details. There are many great insights here, most previously untold, but Anais is (was) capable of so much more. Looks like I'll have to turn back to her diaries for that.

4 people found this helpful

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Hayley Swinson

“Her eyes like the eyes of a spy

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2014

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For the full review: http://lovewritingadventure.com/2014/06/09/review-a-spy-in-the-house-of-love/

It’s hard to judge this book by modern expectations because of the time period in which it was written. Anais Nin’s writing is known for its eloquence, though at times she becomes flowery and “obvious”. She frequently spells out connections to the title throughout the body of the text, which gets to be somewhat cloying (page 51: “Her eyes like the eyes of a spy. Her habits like the habits of a spy.”). Generally, though, the text was rife with apt metaphors and poetic descriptive passages such as on page 66:

“When their still throbbing bodies lay side by side, there was always silence, and in this silence each one began to weave the separating threads, to disunite what had been united, to return to each what had been for a moment equally shared.

There were essences of caresses which could penetrate the heaviest insulations, filtering through the heaviest defenses, but these, so soon after the exchange of desires, could be destroyed like the seeds of birth.”

I did not always sympathize with Sabina. At times, I found her to be too self-pitying but also a victim of her era and her history. Each of her relationships throughout the novel explored a different aspect of herself: another version of her as a woman. Her main concern is to find a way to reconcile these different versions of herself; to find a man who will recognize each of her faces instead of the single one he wishes to see.

13 people found this helpful

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Anna

Beautifully written, poetic outlook on a confused woman's life

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2015

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Beautifully written, poetic outlook on a confused woman's life. Anais is my favorite author, she has a way of writing that nobody else can achieve. One of my favorite books.

8 people found this helpful

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bookkitten

" is perfect for Kindle

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2014

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Anais Nin, the queen of "transmutation," is perfect for Kindle! She would love that she moved into the digital age, as this is a book about transmutation. Fantastic.

5 people found this helpful

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Carrie Johnston

A gorgeous confessional.

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2013

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A lovely, honest, realistic look at a woman's experience with infidelity. Examines the possibility of being in love with a spouse, yet needing fulfillment in fantasy, temporal excitement, and physical exploration of enchanting strangers.

8 people found this helpful

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Bruce Ferguson

Ambiguous

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2014

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It could have been interesting to see sexual behavior from a woman's point of view, but she was writing for men and trying to put it from a man's point of view.

7 people found this helpful

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Joyce Parsons

Not for me

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2013

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I just couldn't get into this book. It was so disjointed I couldn't follow it in parts - struggled through to the end.

4 people found this helpful

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Anshul Benjamin

A bar, a late night phone-call and that's how begins.

Reviewed in India on April 30, 2018

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Sabina - a firebird; blazing through the streets of NY in 50s, enjoying 'the sexual licence' and freedom which men are known having for. Anais Nin's declaration - such a pandora's box a woman's sexuality is that a man's language would always be inadequate to explore it- becomes alive as poetry mingles with prose in this volume, transporting reader as it covers complexity of marriage, infidelity, selfishness and self-fulfillment while Sensuous Sabina weaves web of deceit across NY, taking one lover at-a-time.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

This book hasn't survived the march of time and changes ...

Reviewed in Australia on May 19, 2017

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This book hasn't survived the march of time and changes in society's atitudes, unlike Anais Nin's diaries and short stories which are just as raunchy as when they were written.

One person found this helpful

Prof Rod Griffiths

A fascinating story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2016

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So far the best of Anais Nin that I've read, though mostly I have been into the autobiographies. I many ways this makes sense if those and this story parallels her endless interlocking affairs. What is fascination is the way that her superficiality is gradually revealed as a deliberate life stance, a way of protecting herself from finding out how shallow she is- until it is revealed to her in the final chapter by the man she calls the lie detector. I am reminded of a line in the film Julia by one character when referring to her husband . "Deep down he is really superficial."
What is disappointing is that it ends just when there seems a possibility that she will grow up.

2 people found this helpful

Carla

A bit dated.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2020

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I have found Anais Nin a bit dated and self indulgent, but beautifully written.

Bernie Gourley

Confessional erotica by one of the most renown erotica writers of the 20th century

Reviewed in India on December 14, 2018

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The novel’s lead character, Sabina, is an actress who has a series of extra-marital affairs over the short period covered by the novel. Intrigue is generated at the book’s beginning when Sabina contacts a character that we know only as the “lie detector” and petitions him to watch her. The lie detector follows Sabina throughout the course of her sexual dalliances with four men other than her husband, but the reader is only made explicitly aware of his presence during Sabina’s conversations with him, which bookend the events of the novel.

One might presume this novel would be categorized as erotica or romance, but it’s not so graphic as to be typical of the former, nor so much of a celebration of romance to count as the latter. I’d place this work simply as literary fiction. It focuses on the character of Sabina and the conflict that resides within her – on the on hand, she craves the attention of multiple men; but on the other hand, she is is in turmoil about this need. The lie detector serves as a confessor, and by having her activities known to someone she hopes to be unburdened. The language is often verges on the poetic.

I enjoyed this novel both for its language and its reflection on the inner conflict of the human condition. I’d recommend this work for readers of literary fiction.

One person found this helpful

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A Spy in the House of Love Paperback – May 1, 1994

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