Maurice Guest comes to Leipzig, the music capital of Europe, to realize his dream of becoming a great pianist. However, in its bohemian and heady atmosphere, he encounters not exaltation and inspiration but coarseness, greed, and ambition. For his muse, he turns to Louise Dufraryer, an exotic and languid pianist. Louise has recently been deserted by her own obsessive love, the resident composer and reigning genius, Schilsky.

Now her capricious demands on Maurice’s time and energy destroy whatever slight chance he may have had at distinguishing himself. The more he slides in failure, the more striking the contrast between him and the absent Schilsky, who still holds first place in Louise’s thoughts and feelings. The degradation of their relationship runs its full course until jealousy and hatred are its only vital forms.

Maurice Guest was first published in 1908. Antonia White called it “one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.” As a study of the tragic power of desperate love, it ranks in the great tradition of the European naturalist novel.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

• Publisher: Skyhorse (October 20, 2015)
• Length: 564 pages
• ISBN13: 9781634505079

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