Les Enfants Terribles

About “Les Enfants Terribles”

Les Enfants Terribles is a 1929 novel by Jean Cocteau, published by Editions Bernard Grasset. The story follows two siblings, Elisabeth and Paul, who withdraw from the world as they grow up, a separation that ends when the pressures of adolescence disrupt their isolation. The novel was first translated into English in 1930 by Samuel Putnam and published by Brewer & Warren. A second English translation by Rosamond Lehmann was released in 1955 by New Directions in the U.S. and in 1966 by Mclelland & Stewart in Canada, where it was titled The Holy Terrors. The book includes illustrations created by the author. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)