Sappho: Parisian Manners (French: Sapho : moeurs parisiennes) is an 1884 novel by the French writer Alphonse Daudet. It was serialised in L'Écho de Paris in 1884. The book is largely autobiographical and inspired by Daudet's relationship with Marie Rieu. Jean Gaussin is a young man from a wealthy family in southern France and works for the government in Paris. He begins a relationship with Fanny Legrand, initially unaware of her career as a scandalous model under the name Sappho. They live together for five years and eventually adopt a child. Fanny is smitten with the child and becomes distant from Jean. Jean begins an affair with another woman, Irène, favoured by his parents to become his wife, only to return to Fanny with renewed affection.
Adaptations (1)
Sappho was adapted into a 1917 film.
Sapho1917 · film · 50 min · dir. Hugh Ford · IMDb ↗IMDb4.6Sapho, whose real name is Fanny Legrand, is the daughter of poor people, her father being a coachman, and her early home is little more than a hovel in the slums of Paris. She is a flower seller on the streets of Paris, earning a few sous daily, which she uses to support her family. She meets famous sculptor, Caoudal, who recognizes her wonderful beauty and persuades her to pose for him. The luxury of his studio awakens in her an unsuspected love for the beautiful things of life. It's not long before she becomes the most talked of and sought after model of Paris. She is content to live in this way, reveling in beauty and the admiration of her friends and Caoudal himself. Until a poet named Dejoie, moved by her beauty, writes verses to her which make both himself and her still more famous, winning her away from Caoudal. A lost film.
