The Later Life

The Later Life is a novel by Dutch author Louis Couperus. The Later Life is the second of four novels that make up the quartet known as 'The Books of the Small Souls', the master work of the foremost author of Dutch literature

Set in the stifling world of turn of the century Dutch aristocracy, the second volume of the 'Books of the Small Souls' quartet, begins where the first volume ended. Constance Van der Welcke has returned to The Hague after her twenty-year exile for a scandalous affair in Rome. Hoping for acceptance by her family and the society of her former 'set', Constance and her husband Henri are now estranged from the family and have given up all ambitions of acceptance in society. Determined to live quietly, they form new friendships - Henri with Constance's niece, Marianne, and Constance with Henri's eccentric old friend, Max Brauws - that lead each of them on a journey of self-discovery. 

Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (1863 – 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His writings contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and sketches. Couperus is considered to be one of the foremost figures in Dutch literature. In 1923, he was awarded the Tollensprijs (Tollens Prize). Translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Audiobook read by Phil Benson, running time 8 hours, 2 min. Unabridged full version.