The Marquise de Merteuil, Dangerous LiaisonsRead about the other entries on the list.
This old-school epistolary dive into the sexual intrigues of the aristocracy in France’s Ancien Regime is rife with two-faced friends and lovers, but no one plays all sides like the beautiful, villainous Marquise. By the time she gets her comeuppance in the form of exile and a ruined face, she has betrayed basically every major character in the book—sometimes more than once.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses also appears among Heinz Helle’s top ten novels featuring hateful characters, Jonathan Grimwood's top ten French Revolution novels, Helena Frith Powell's top ten sexy French books, H.M. Castor's top ten dark and haunted heroes and heroines, and John Mullan's top ten best lotharios in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue