The startling and groundbreaking novel that inspired Luis Buñuel's film by the same name is finally available once more. In a world that blurs the lines between feminism and female sexuality, Belle de Jour remains as vital and controversial today as it was in its 1960 debut. Severine Serizy is a wealthy and beautiful Parisian housewife. She loves her husband, but she cannot share physical intimacy with him, and her vivid sadomasochistic fantasies drive her to seek employment at a brothel. By day, she enacts her customers' wildest fantasies under the pseudonym "Belle de Jour"; in the evenings, she returns home to her chaste marriage and oblivious husband. Famous for its unflinching eroticism, Joseph Kessel's novel continues to offer an eye-opening glance into a unique female psyche.

約瑟夫•凱賽爾（Joseph Kessel，1898—1979），法國著名記者、小說傢、法蘭西學院院士。他齣生於阿根廷，1908年跟隨原籍立陶宛的父母定居法國。在1915年獲得文學碩士學位後加入《辯論報》。1916年凱賽爾作為誌願兵參加第一次世界大戰。戰後重新迴到《辯論報》，同時為《費加羅報》、《自由報》等撰稿，並於1928年創辦政治文學周刊《葛林果》。凱賽爾在二戰中參加瞭抵抗運動，戰後繼續記者生涯和文學創作，足跡遍布非洲、緬甸、阿富汗等。他前後發錶瞭七十多部作品，主要有小說《機組人員》（1927年獲法蘭西文學大奬）《戰俘》、《白日美人》、《獅王》等。