The Shady Lady

L'Effacée

1910. Charlotte Dufrène, a former demimondaine secluded in elegant society close to Paris, has to accept a strange proposal: to become the pretend companion of Raymond Roussel, an eccentric writer and secret homosexual. She would spend twenty-three years by his side, accompanying him right to the end of a hallucinated quest. From Brussels, where she then retreats, she recalls the day preceding this decisive meeting and the flamboyant celebration that was then given in her honor. Letters sent by Charlotte Dufrène between 1933 and 1964 support this narrative.