The Victorian Chaise-Longue

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Wow. What a weird novella. I read this for the first time on June 15, 2001. A GR friend had told me that another book of hers was excellent (To Bed with Grand Music) so I thought I would read this again, and then read the book recommended to me. Romanzo breve di genere gotico, Sulla chaise-longue racconta la storia della benestante Melanie, convalescente dalla tubercolosi, che appisolatasi su una chaise-longue usata ma mai utilizzata dai suoi nuovi proprietari, si ritrova imprigionata nel corpo di una ragazza malata, in un'altra vita e un'altra epoca. There was a lot of show wood on this Chaise, so the fabric had to be fixed to the indented area just before the show wood. Versatile Positioning: Chaises are designed to support various reclining positions, allowing individuals to relax comfortably. They can be positioned in different areas of a room, such as near a window or fireplace, and can serve as a focal point or a luxurious accent piece.

Here’s a description of a chaise longue from Wikipedia (and it has pictures of it from the olden days… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaise_... ): an upholstered sofa in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs. Timeless Appeal: Antique chaises have a timeless appeal that transcends changing design trends. They embody elegance and sophistication, making them suitable for both traditional and contemporary interior styles. From the late 1920s and bleeding into the 1960s — a la Betty Draper’s era — chaise lounges fit the bill as a “form meets function” piece. Famous architects and designers fiddled with the chair’s design, keeping the chaise at the forefront of the prefabrication revolution.In the 1930s, the chaise longue moved from the psychoanalyst’s office to the silver screen. Any leading lady worth her salt — Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson — draped herself seductively across one for photos and film shoots, generally clothed in a low-cut, spaghetti-strap satin nightgown. Today, it remains a staple of photo shoots for movie stars, fashion models, and even the occasional business executive looking to infuse femininity into her image.The premise of this chilling story is a simple yet highly effective one. In the early 1950s, Melanie, a young mother recovering from tuberculosis, falls asleep, only to wake up in the body of her alter ego, Milly, some ninety years earlier. The overmantel, which carried so many small objects that she had only a confused impression of worthless trash."

This is the story of a young married, pregnant woman named Melanie in the 1950s with TB. She goes to sleep on a Victorian chaise longue and wakes up in 1864, an unmarried young woman named Millie who had incurable TB and a shameful secret. In her efforts to prove who she is, her identity becomes more and more linked to the past. Will she ever be able to return? Just who is she, really? Millie or Melanie? Is there a difference? This only adds to Melanie's confusion as she tries to make sense of her situation: the unknown, combined with eerie familiarity. "There came a new dread, or an old fear long known and endured." Functional and Decorative: Antique chaises are not only functional for relaxation but also serve as decorative elements in a space. They can add a touch of luxury, character, and charm to a room, becoming a statement piece that enhances the overall ambiance. When I was a boy we had lawn furniture and there was a lawn chair that was sort of like a lazy-boy….where you could rest your legs and feet on an extension of the chair. My parents called it a chaise lounge. I guess they were right. But maybe technically it was a chaise longue.La parte che colpisce di più, comunque, non è tanto lo scambio di corpi (che ugualmente interessante perchè Melanie si ritrova circondata da persone a dir poco inquietanti e bizzarre) ma le riflessioni ed implicazioni per ciò che sta succedendo. The nightmarish voice that binds the limbs in dreadful paralysis while the danger creeps and creeps and at last will leap." This book was written in 1953 and was classed as a horror book. The sparse narrative certainly helps to make it that way, although today’s more sophisticated readers (in terms of there is little that hasn’t been written about these days) would find this a much tamer read. It wasn’t scary so much as eery for me but the ending certianly woke me up. I will not reveal anything else about the plot (and the above is pretty much revealed on all general descriptions of the book), other than that the plot takes on a different shape depending on how you approach it.

Il tutto contornato da situazioni angoscianti dovute al non sapere gli elementi pregressi rispetto all'arrivo di Melanie in quel corpo del passato. El éxtasis siempre me pareció sospechoso, dijo. Sabía que era maligno, le dije a Guy; bueno, no con tanta seguridad, pero lo sospechaba, se lo pregunté a él. Fue la primera vez que nos acostamos; no, no la primera vez, no es así, admitió ella, sino la segunda, y recordó la desvencijada cama con baldaquín del hotel que quedaba en Forest of Dean. Y después, fue como regresar de la muerte a la vida, y le dije a Guy: No puede ser lo correcto, no puede ser que estemos hechos para sentir semejante felicidad, y él estaba casi dormido y se rió, y dijo que en el fondo yo era una puritana. Y le pregunté si a la gente religiosa le parecía bien sentir éxtasis a través de Dios, y él dijo que sí, que esa era la única manera que les parecía que estaba bien. Después se durmió, y afuera amanecía gris y lluvioso, y me acordé de la vez en que tenía dieciséis años y caminaba por South Adley Street y entré en una capilla. Adentro no había nadie y sonaba el órgano. Me senté y mi mente se inundó de Dios, se unió a Dios en éxtasis, y también esa vez regresar fue como regresar a la vida, exactamente igual que cuando me acosté con Guy, el mismo idéntico éxtasis, viniera de un hombre o de Dios.Duchesse brisée (Broken duchess in French): this word is used when the chaise longue is divided in two parts: the chair and a long footstool, or two chairs with a stool in between them. The origin of the name is unknown. My Kindle Edition contained a short preface by P.D. James, where she describes the novel as “terrifying”. Personally I didn’t have that reaction. “Slightly creepy”, is probably as far as I would go in describing this. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading The Victorian Chaise-Longue.