In the story, a young married woman falls in love with a priest and commits suicide when the infatuation comes to nothing.
Her widowed husband, who had been ruined by the French Revolution, then sets out to kill the priest out of jealousy.
[2] Brian G. Rogers wrote in his 1967 book on Barbey d'Aurevilly: "L'Ensorcelée, with its real and symbolic landscapes, its well-organised plot and its regionalistic flavour, is one of Barbey d'Aurevilly's most successful novels.
Largely free from the repetitions and stylistic errors of the earlier works, it inaugurates the Normandy cycle with a flourish, and, with its parallel themes of passionate and 'satanic' possession, provides a further commentary on its author's evolving attitude to his continuing preoccupations.
The film was directed by Jean Prat and starred Julie Philippe and Jean-Luc Boutté.