Undressing Emmanuelle: A Memoir

This Sunday morning I'm returning for another brief but important moment to Sylvia Kristel because she somehow influenced me a lot in her quiet way. Is giving oneself up to the flesh a sin? Well, yes, but not for the obvious reason. She's brutally honest about many of her relationships and interestingly she seems to have kept a significant degree of control rather than being the innocent 'victim' that the #metoo movement would have us all believe. In short, one should never lose oneself in anything, especially in the evil of the mere enjoyment of the flesh, nor lose the humane duty to look after and do good to others, and that's where the real answer to what sin is always lays. Sin it isn't whenever it's about love. More than one passage in Sylvia's beautiful memoir points to this in spades but here's one of my own favourites :

"Women force themselves to stay beautiful. It's a duty, an addiction, the ultimate generosity. Beautiful stars should be given some kind of immunity, so they can age in peace until they pass away in the soft light of their memories, protected from the hatred of those bent on revenge, from the screens that present them as continually young and sprightly, and from the disappointment of a frank public still subject to the charm of the elderly woman's films, and who shriek loudly in the street: 'Bloddy hell, she's looking old!' We should shield women from this pain, thanking them instead for the dream they have provided - at such a price - of a life made softer and more beautiful, awaiting nothing in return except love, immense love. That's what a star is: a love addict."

I do hope that you've read every word because they have meaning. Sylvia Kristal was a really lovely human being :-)