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The Book of Proper Names
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Wikipedia article
'The Book of Proper Names' is a Belgian novel by Amlie Nothomb. It was first published in 2002. It is a romanticized account of the life of the singer RoBERT, whom Nothomb became acquainted with as an avid admirer of her songs.
Plot
In a vaguely surreal story, an extraordinary little girl is born from strange circumstances - her mother murdered her father, gave birth in prison, and then hanged herself. Plectrude, as the girl is unfortunately named by her mother, is adopted by her aunt and lives a fairy-like existence until she enrolls into the Paris Opera Ballet School, a rigorous institution portrayed as a "scalpel to slice away the last flesh of childhood."[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3617057/Murdered-by-her-heroine.html Telegraph.co.uk, Jasper Rees, "Murdered by her heroine", 15 May 2004][http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/a-twisted-ballerina-s-dance-macabre-1-1393994 The Scotsman, "A twisted ballerina's dance macabre" 09, May 2004]
References
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