Another Gautier, and though nothing was going to quite match up to what La Morte amoureuse did for me this is still another absolutely gorgeous nouvelle and a further argument in favour of my infatuation with mid 19th century French literature. Arria Marcella touches on the ideas of love crossing time and space, a theme I'm hugely enamored with, and does it with some breathtaking passages of beauty and eloquence once it really takes off in the oneiric second half. Will be all too relatable to anyone who's ever had dreams of otherworldly romance and woke up to feel deprived for days afterward... also beginning to get the impression from this and La Morte that Gautier didn't like Christianity very much.

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Quite difficult as a read given how description heavy it is and I had to re-read sections; probably one to revisit once I'm more fluent still for additional enjoyment. ( )