Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anaïs Nin

Rainer (Your Life as Story) blends memoir and imagination in this engaging examination of her relationship with author Anaïs Nin. “I call this book a novoir—a memoir with true characters and actual dialogue, but with the structure and stylistic elements of a novel,” Rainer says at the outset. Rainer first meets Nin in New York City in 1962 when her godmother sends her to pick up books from the famous diarist. Sheltered and virginal when she enters Nin’s circle, Rainer is shocked to discover that Nin is a bigamist with husbands on both coasts, but before long Rainer is covering for her mentor. When Nin’s The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931–1934 is published in 1966, Nin becomes a feminist superstar and icon of the sexual revolution. Rainer, too, is on her way, pursuing a doctorate in English literature at UCLA, with her mentor happily speaking to Rainer’s undergraduate students. Despite some ruptures between them, the pair remain close up until Nin’s death from cancer in 1977. While the line between truth and imagination in this book is hard to discern at times, Rainer still manages to take readers on a fascinating personal journey. Agent: Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (July)