Story of O - Hidden Identities

Hidden Identities

The author used a pen name, then later revealed herself under another pen name, before finally, prior to her death, revealing her true identity. Her lover Jean Paulhan wrote the preface as if the author were unknown to him.

According to an article by Geraldine Bedell, published in The Observer on Sunday 24 July 2004, "Pauline Réage, the author, was a pseudonym, and many people thought that the book could only have been written by a man. The writer's true identity was not revealed until 10 years ago, when, in an interview with John de St Jorre, a British journalist and some-time foreign correspondent of The Observer, an impeccably dressed 86-year-old intellectual called Dominique Aury acknowledged that the fantasies of castles, masks and debauchery were hers."

According to several other sources, however, Dominique Aury was itself a pseudonym of Anne Cécile Desclos, born 23 September 1907 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, France, and deceased 26 April 1998 (at age 90) in Paris, France.

The Grove Press edition (US, 1965) was translated by publisher Richard Seaver (who had lived in France for many years) under the pseudonym Sabine d'Estree.