Priority

A collection of erotic letters between a French painter and a young Danish woman makes for passionate poetry, but Danish children's author Hermann's first adult effort, barely novella-length and also skimpy with solid details about the characters' daily lives, doesn't quite have enough substance to stand on its own. The correspondence begins when Delphine Hav sees one of Jean-Luc Foreur's paintings hanging in a gallery in Paris and sends an admiring postcard. Her card is pretentious and stiff, but Jean-Luc nonetheless responds with his own, slightly stilted letter. Soon, Delphine admits she is ""yearning for a man who lives many days' journey from here,"" and the letters become openly erotic, if still quite coy and trying too hard to be charming. Over 19 months, Delphine and Jean-Luc spar romantically with their missives, writing of their blossoming feelings in tones ranging from syrupy and flirty to down and dirty. Hermann occasionally shines at this epistolary give-and-take; she's at her best when writing the courting dance. Delphine bristles when Jean-Luc asks her age: ""I am old enough to live on my own, but too young to possess a sofa. I am old enough to earn my own living, but too young to save for my old age."" But while their verbal foreplay is provocative, the characters never become as fascinatingly real to the reader as they seem to be for each other. As Delphine expresses her increasing passion for Jean-Luc, this slight story has its moving moments. Unfortunately, the limited nature of the exchanges prevents the reader from experiencing the tidal wave of emotion about which the correspondents write so eloquently. The surprise ending, however, does impart texture and depth to the narrative. (June) FYI: The novel was first published in Denmark in 1998 under the title Prioritaire.