Play Boy

Constance seemingly had it all: born into a wealthy and influential family; a career as a successful lawyer, love from her husband and son. But behind this veneer was the stifling pressure to conform to the boundaries of French society within which she could not be herself and survive. Playboy traces one woman's transition from straight lawyer, mother and wife to the buzz-cut and tattooed lesbian taking the Parisian literary scene by storm. Constance is a detached narrator as she leads us through the quiet boredom of her life with her husband Laurent, the betrayal of his affair, the arrival of her son, and the influence of drugs and alcohol on her relationship with her family. Unburdened by marital and familial obligations, a new Constance emerges, free to explore the complexities of her love for women and herself. An affecting and compelling chronicle of transgression and the balance of power, Playboy is an unflinching account of Constance Debre's discovery of bachelorhood. Translated by Holly James