The Tale of the Rose: The Passion That Inspired The Little PrinceRandom House Publishing Group, 17. juuli 2001 - 336 pages In the spring of 1944, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry left his wife, Consuelo, to return to the war in Europe. Soon after, he disappeared while flying a reconnaissance mission over occupied France. Neither his plane nor his body was ever found. The Tale of the Rose is Consuelo’s account of their extraordinary marriage. It is a love story about a pilot and his wife, a man who yearned for the stars and the spirited woman who gave him the strength to fulfill his dreams. Consuelo Suncin Sandoval de Gómez and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry met in Buenos Aires in 1930—she a seductive young widow, he a brave pioneer of early aviation, decorated for his acts of heroism in the deserts of North Africa. He was large in his passions, a fierce loner with a childlike appetite for danger. She was frail and voluble, exotic and capricious. Within hours of their first encounter, he knew he would have her as his wife. Their love affair and marriage would take them from Buenos Aires to Paris to Casablanca to New York. It would take them through periods of betrayal and infidelity, pain and intense passion, devastating abandonment and tender, poetic love. Several times in the course of their marriage they would go their separate ways, but always they would return. The Tale of the Rose is the story of a man of extravagant dreams, and of the woman who was his muse, the inspiration for the Little Prince’s beloved rose—unique in all the world—whom he could not live with and could not live without. Written on Long Island in a quiet spell of reconciliation, The Little Prince was Antoine’s greatest gift to the woman he never stopped loving, the only child to emerge from their union. The Tale of the Rose is Consuelo’s reply—the love letter she never could write to her husband—a fable of its own, just as magical, poetic, and tragic as The Little Prince. Praise for The Tale of the Rose “We find in these pages all the tenderness and patience, but also the tenacity, of a woman who loves. Consuelo does not seek to explain or even to understand her husband, she accepts him and leads him to what he must be. . . . Written with a strong and authentic voice, The Tale of the Rose is a book to read for its strength of character, and for the adventure that it offers.”—Elle |
Other editions - View all
The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince Consuelo de Saint-Exupery Limited preview - 2003 |
The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince Consuelo de Saint-Exupery No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
afraid airfield Almería André Gide Antoine apartment arms arrived asked aviator beautiful began Bernard Zehrfuss boat Buenos Aires café Casablanca Consuelo couldn’t Crémieux crying Daurat Didier Daurat dinner door dream dressed drink eggs in aspic everything eyes felt Feuilleraie finally flowers France French friends gave girl give Gómez Carrillo goodbye Guatemala hand happy heart hour husband I’ve kiss knew laughed leave letter Listen Little Prince live longer look Madame married Max Ernst Monsieur morning mother never Night Flight o’clock once Oppède Paris pilot plane Puerto Barrios Ricardo Viñes SaintEx SaintExupéry sleep speak stay story suitcases talk tears telegram tell there’s things thought told tomorrow Tonio took Vauban Véra Viñes voice waiting walk wife woman women write you’ll you’re young