Thaïs

In the Egyptian desert of the fourth century, Paphnuce, a holy hermit who has renounced the world, is haunted by the memory of Thaïs, the most celebrated actress and courtesan of Alexandria, and resolves to save her soul. He goes to the city, converts her and leads her to a convent in the desert. But back in his solitude he cannot stop thinking of her beauty, and his faith gives way to an obsession that consumes him.

Anatole France (1844–1924), the ironic French master who won the Nobel Prize in 1921, published the novel in 1890. Its picture of late Roman Alexandria, with a famous banquet at which philosophers of every school debate, and its gentle mockery of fanaticism inspired Massenet's opera. This translation is by Robert B. Douglas. It pairs well with France's Penguin Island.