"It was with Alexis that, in 1929, Marguerite Yourcenar began her career as a novelist. Few literary debuts in this centry are quite as astonishing; for this profound analysis of a man's homosexuality was written by a young woman of twenty-four. The novel takes the form of a letter from the protagonist, Alexis, to his wife, Monique. His letter declares that he can no longer continue in the marriage, that he must obey the demands of his own sexuality, against which he has struggled in vain, to achieve a freedom without which he cannot live"--Back cover.