Books in Brief

Adrienne: The Life of the Marquise de La Fayette, by André Maurois (McGraw-Hill, $7.95). Whatever one may think of La Fayette himself—and at close range, he seems too pleased with his own role as George Washington’s libertarian savior to be wholly attractive—it is hard not to be delighted with his wife. Married at fourteen, she promptly discovered in her fifteen year-old bridegroom everything her life would need to put its powers of devotion to maximum use. She became wife, mother, best friend, discreet partner, and blind adorer all in one, and over the next 34 years, she saw her hero through celebrity, disgrace, prison and infidelity with superb resourcefulness. She even managed to die in his arms, and if a document ever proved that it is a greater privilege to love than be loved, it is La Fayette’s own account of her blissful death.

P. MELIK

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Adrienne: The Life of the Marquise de La Fayette, by André Maurois (McGraw-Hill, $7.95). Whatever one may think of La Fayette himself—and at close range, he seems too pleased with his own role as George Washington’s libertarian savior to be wholly attractive—it is hard not to be delighted with his wife. Married at fourteen, she promptly discovered in her fifteen year-old bridegroom everything her life would need to put its powers of devotion to maximum use. She became wife, mother, best friend, discreet partner, and blind adorer all in one, and over the next 34 years, she saw her hero through celebrity, disgrace, prison and infidelity with superb resourcefulness. She even managed to die in his arms, and if a document ever proved that it is a greater privilege to love than be loved, it is La Fayette’s own account of her blissful death.

P. MELIK