House of Incest

Anais Nin's only work of surrealist fiction is a short, intensely poetic prose poem charting a descent into the self and the prison of obsessive, self-enclosed love.

Narrated through a series of dreamlike, fragmentary visions, it follows a nameless speaker through encounters with figures who embody narcissism, longing, and the terror of intimacy, including the seductive Sabina and the paralyzed Jeanne, who loves her own brother.

The title's incest is metaphorical: a love so turned inward that it can embrace nothing outside the self, a hall of mirrors of desire and isolation. Drawing on Nin's own dreams and her fascination with psychoanalysis, the book abandons conventional plot for a hypnotic flow of imagery, music, and confession.

Lush, claustrophobic, and emotionally raw, it explores creativity, guilt, the unconscious, and the longing to break free of one's own reflection. It stands as a landmark of literary surrealism and an early experiment in writing the inner life as pure sensation.