OUIDA [Marie Louise de la Ramée]
Folle-Farine
"only the dust from the corn ... the impalpable cloud which goes forth to gleam golden in the sun a moment, and then is scattered; on the wind; into the water; up in the sunlight; down in the mud..."
First published in 1871, the title Folle-Farine refers to wheat dust, the insignificance of the protagonist at the beginning of the book, and the transitory nature of life.
“Not the wheat itself; not even so much as the chaff; only the dust from the corn. The dust which no one needs or notices; the mock farina which flies out from under the two revolving circles of the grindstones; the impalpable cloud which goes forth to gleam golden in the sun a moment, and then is scattered; on the wind; into the water; up in the sunlight; down in the mud: what matters? who cares?
Only the dust: a mote in the air; a speck in the light; a black spot in the living daytime; a colourless atom in the immensity of the atmosphere, borne up one instant to gleam against the sky, dropped down the next to lie in a fetid ditch…”
A story about an orphaned girl in France who becomes a great beauty and, though pure and innocent, is much coveted by an array of unsavoury and lascivious men.
Significant loss to lower portion of the paper covered spine, webbing visible at tail and along upper hinge. Paper covered boards rather worn, spotted, and darkened particularly along edges; internally in good order.
