Plot Summary
The leading character of the novel, Sabina, 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 Sabina, revealing in the end the folly of her ways.
Fans of the book speak of Sabina as not only special, but as endowed with a touching need. Initially, Nin meant Sabina to be based on her friend June Miller, and wrote House of Incest with Sabina 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.
Read more about this topic: A Spy In The House Of Love
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