A worthy successor to Zola's Nana, also about a Parisienne courtesan, this is set in the early years of the 20th Century. Cheri is the pampered young son of a courtesan, at turns neglected and pampered by his mother and her friends. He develops a passionate affair with an older courtesan, Lea, which lasts for five years until his marriage to a young innocent.
Cheri cannot shake out of his passionate feelings for Lea and tries to return to the love of his youth with disastrous results for both of them.
Lea is wonderfully drawn, a pragmatic business woman, acutely aware of her age and what it means for her both as a woman and a business asset, she fights her burgeoning love for Cheri. Her mix of tenderness and passion mixed with the sad realisation of a love that is too late for her is beautifully rendered. With Cheri as the spoiled young man, denied nothing and used to ruling the roost as a vapid and perfect foil.