Cocteau's films were familiar to me beforehand (for example the magical La belle et la bête (1946), the best film version of that classic fairy tale), and apparently the same thing applies to this novel: Cocteau's atmospheric stories are nearly impossible to describe with words, you just have to experience them yourself. The dreamlike mood of the story of Elisabeth and Paul takes hold of you, and doesn't let you go until you are in the abyss with them.