''Cities of the Interior'' is a novel sequence published in one volume containing the five books of

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( ; ; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

's "continuous novel": '' Ladders to Fire'', '' Children of the Albatross'', ''

The Four-Chambered Heart ''The Four-Chambered Heart'' is a 1950 autobiographical novel by France, French-born writer Anaïs Nin, part of her ''Cities of the Interior'' sequence. It is about a woman named Djuna, her love, her thoughts, her emotions, her doubts, her decisi ...

'', '' A Spy in the House of Love'' and '' Seduction of the Minotaur''. This combined volume was first published, by the author, in 1959. Its central figures are three women resembling different aspects of the author, and in some superficial ways

June Miller June Miller (January 7 or 28, 1902 – February 1, 1979) was the second wife of novelist Henry Miller. He wrote prolifically about her and their relationship in his books, usually using the pseudonyms Mona or Mara interchangeably. She also appea ...

. In some of the books they interact with each other, with a painter resembling

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

and with South Americans resembling her friend, the Peruvian radical Gonzalo Moré, and his wife Helba. Most of the content is taken from her diaries, polished and thinly disguised. It was followed by her last novel, ''

Collages Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

.''

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

was impressed by both ''Ladders to Fire'' and ''Children of the Albatross'', and played a role in their publication.

References

Women's erotica and pornography Novel sequences 1959 books 1959 French novels Novels by Anaïs Nin Swallow Press books {{1950s-novel-stub