The Miracle of the Rose

The Miracle of the Rose
Author(s)	Jean Genet
Original title	Miracle de la rose
Translator	Bernard Frechtman
Country	France
Language	French
Genre(s)	Semi-autobiographical novel
Publisher	Marc Barbezat - L'Arbalete (Original French), Grove Press (English Translation)
Publication date	1946
Published in English	1994
Media type	Print
ISBN	0571250386
Preceded by	Our Lady of the Flowers
Followed by	Funeral Rites

The Miracle of the Rose (in French: Miracle de la rose) is a 1946 book by Jean Genet about experiences as a detainee in Mettray Penal Colony and Fontevrault prison - although there is no direct evidence of Genet ever having been imprisoned in the latter establishment. This autobiographical work has a non-linear structure: stories from Genet's adolescence are mixed in with his experiences as a thirty year old man at Fontevrault prison. At Mettray, Genet describes homosexual erotic desires for his fellow adolescent detainees. There is also a fantastical dimension to the narrative, particularly in Fontevrault passages concerning a prisoner called Harcamone who is condemned to death for murder. Genet idolises Harcamone and writes poetically about the rare occasions on which he catches a glimpse of this character. Genet was detained in Mettray Penal Colony between 2 September 1926 and 1 March 1929, after which, at the age of 18, he joined the Foreign Legion.

In popular culture

The Pogues have a song titled "Hell's Ditch," which contains references to the novel.

References

Luc Forlivesi, Georges-François Pottier and Sophie Chassat, Educate & Punish: the agricultural penal colony of Mettray (1839-1937) (in French), Presses universitaires de Rennes, October 2005.