Orlanda

What happens when the self splits—and meets itself face to face?

In a quiet café near Paris’s Gare du Nord, literature professor Aline Berger is struggling to reread Orlando by Virginia Woolf when something strange happens: a part of her consciousness breaks away and inhabits the body of Lucien Lèfrene, a charismatic young rock journalist. This new self calls himself Orlanda—a tribute to Woolf’s gender-shifting protagonist—and begins to shadow Aline’s life from a distance.

When Aline and Orlanda reunite in Belgium, the boundaries between them begin to blur. Aline, once reserved and cautious, finds herself transformed by Orlanda’s boldness, sensuality, and unapologetic desire. As their connection deepens, Aline begins to realize that Orlanda is not separate at all, but a long-buried expression of who she might have been—who she still could be.

Lyrical, daring, and deeply introspective, Orlanda is a powerful exploration of identity, gender, and the multiplicity of self. It’s the story of a woman confronting her desires, her fears, and the many selves she contains—until she can no longer look away.

Now in paperback with a new foreword by Isle McElroy for the 30th anniversary of its original publication.