Le Désespéré

by Léon Bloy

"Le Désespéré" by Léon Bloy is a novel published in 1887. It follows Caïn Marchenoir, a brilliant but impoverished Catholic writer in Paris, as he wrestles with intense spiritual devotion against forbidden desire for a former prostitute turned aspiring saint. Meanwhile, his desperate need for income clashes with his volcanic rage at the corrupt literary establishment. Beginning with his father's death and ending with his own, this semi-autobiographical tragedy chronicles the extreme ups and downs of a talented but tormented man navigating incompatible forces.