Ecstasy
by Louis Couperus
Cecile, a beautiful young window, falls in love with a notorious womanizer, and for that reason must endure intense suffering and pain in the midst of polite society. Ecstasy’s tranquil setting in late 19th-century Holland belies the stormy waters in which Cecile finds herself, as she abandons herself to love – to thwarted and unspoken passion.