Publisher's Synopsis
To be placed at the beginning of the 1280s, if not a few years earlier, the Partenopeus de Blois constitutes a publishing new feature at the time of the birth of the Arthurian novel, which was successful throughout Europe with translations and adaptations. It offers another type of narration, based on the tale of Cupid and Psyche read in reverse and intersected with stories of supposed fairies, in a setting that leaves room for the marvellous, which is why it is recognised as the first feerique novel and, at the same time, due to the historical setting in which the story takes place at the time of Clovis, the first lignagier novel relating to the dynasty of the counts of Blois. The personality of the author, who tenaciously wishes to maintain his anonymity, is also revealed in his decisive stance against certain clerical dictates, in favour of women and their legitimate erotic desires, as well as the holding of jousts, forbidden by the Church. Finally, the anonymous author makes admirable use of different forms of language - fictional, epic and lyrical - and for the first time interweaves the protagonists' love affairs with his own, even making his beloved co-responsible for the continuation, according to a procedure that is in vogue today in the writing of television series.
