Mienne: roman

A male sculptor writes a candid letter to a longtime female friend to explain a scandal that made him withdraw from Paris. He meditates on secrecy, the limits of frankness, and why he prefers written confession to speech. He recounts showing a modest reclining nude at a Salon that he expected to pass unnoticed, then seeing it deliberately destroyed by an unknown assailant and turned into sensational copy by the press. The account weaves personal reflection on artistic sincerity with an examination of how private acts and journalistic exaggeration can escalate a small incident into public embarrassment.