After the pleasure comes the pain. _The Sexual Life of Catherine M_, Catherine Millet's analysis of the many forms and flavours of sexual pleasure, was internationally admired, and not just for its literary qualities. The audacity of a sex life well lived and thoroughly examined left readers wondering how she managed to pull it off while sustaining her relationship with life partner, writer Jacques Henric. 'I had love at home' she explained. 'I sought only pleasure in the world outside'. Then one day she discovered a letter lying about the apartment, from which it became clear that Jacques was involved elsewhere. _Jealousy_ details the crisis provoked by this discovery and her reaction to it. If _The Sexual Life of Catherine M_ seemed to disregard emotion, _Jealousy_ is its radical complement: the paradoxical confession of a libertine, who succumbs to the 'timeless and universal malady'.