Héloise is a modern-day recounting of the Abélard (here as Bernard) and Héloise legend, with Bernard's wife, Christine, representing the spiritually good life. It is also a modern Dracula, with the atmosphere of a Fellini film, The Damned, and even Cabaret. From the outset of the story, carefully chosen language evokes a somber feeling of perdition, silence, and a void, immediately contrasted with words suggesting life, joy, and light. Surrounding these two distinct realms is the frenetic, urban world of Paris. (p. 763)

Héloise is a well-written novel in Hébert's typically beautiful, simple, and effective style. It is an interesting work, appealing to one's love for the fantastic and the macabre. One does wish, however, that its symbolism were somewhat less obvious; and one does wonder, in particular, in what further direction Anne Hébert is intending to move in her fiction. (p. 764)

Paula...