Michel knows nothing about love when he marries the gentle Marceline out of duty to his father. They travel to Tunisia for their honeymoon, where Michel becomes very ill. During his recovery, he meets a young Arab boy, whose radiant health and beauty captivate him. This is an awakening for him both sexually and morally and, in seeking to live according to his own desires, Michel discovers a new freedom. But, as he also finds, freedom can be a burden. Few writers in the twentieth century have been as influential as Andre Gide. Contemporary Review