A Spy in the House of Love
 1st edition (1954) | |
| Author | Anaïs Nin |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Erotic literature Character study |
| Publisher | Swallow Press (1954) Penguin (1973) |
Publication date | 1954 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 136 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 9780804002806 |
| Followed by | Seduction of the Minotaur |
A Spy in the House of Love is a 1954 novel by Anaïs Nin, part of her Cities of the Interior sequence, published by Swallow Press and British Book Centre, Paris and New York. It was published in the UK by Peter Owen, London, 1971, and in paperback by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1973 (Penguin book 3600).
The book is a journey into the mind of Sabrina, who is assumed by many to be a fictionalized version of author Anaïs Nin herself. The book portrays an adulterous woman working with a therapist to try to come to terms with her dishonest ways. Anaïs Nin wrote the book at a time that she was having many affairs.
The genre is best described as erotic fiction. The story is a character study of a woman in torment.
Plot summary
The leading character of the novel, Sabrina, is a beautiful lying wife who desires to seduce every attractive man she can. She regards herself as an international spy in the house of love. All the while she is living a double life with staid Alan, her unsuspecting husband. She tells Alan that she's an actress in a play and she must leave for weeks at a time. She hides herself under makeup and clothing to disguise her flaws as she goes in search of someone who can save her from herself. At the same time, she's telling her story to a "lie detector", whom she dials at random in order to hear an unfamiliar voice on the other line. The lie detector is something like a detective and somewhat of a professional psychologist, listening to others and separating truth from lies. He traces her call and continues to follow Sabrina, revealing in the end the folly of her ways.
Fans of the book speak of Sabrina as not only special, but as endowed with a touching need. Initially, Nin meant Sabrina to be based on her friend June Miller, and wrote House of Incest with Sabrina standing in for June. However, as Nin seems to have held June as a role model and deliberately imitated her, the character borrowed traits from both women. Nin said that of all her novels, this was the one she worked on most diligently. Many readers and critics speak of the lie detector as one of her best characters.
Cultural references
- The British band The House of Love is named after the novel.
- In The Simpsons episode "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner", Moe Szyslak refers to Artie Ziff by saying, "He's like a spy in the house of Moe."
- The TV series Dollhouse uses the phrase as the title of its ninth episode.
- Songs
- Steve Winwood recorded a song called "Spy in the House of Love".
- The American band The dB's also recorded a song titled "A Spy in the House of Love" on their album Like This.
- The phrase was used as a lyric in The Doors' song "The Spy" on the album Morrison Hotel.
- "Spy in the House of Love" is also the title of a song by the band Was (Not Was) released in 1987.
- The band Animal Logic also released a single entitled "There's A Spy (in the House of Love)."
- The phrase was used as a lyric in Anaïs Mitchell's song "Namesake" on the album The Brightness.
- Carly Simon quotes a line from the book "I am an international spy in the House of Love", in her 1979 album Spy.
