Everyone wants to believe in the redemptive power of love. That the purity of an honest love can restore a sex worker's soul, making her capable of self-sacrifice, might seem unlikely at best, but Alexandre Dumas the younger was indeed very young when he wrote the novel La Dame aux camelias, and aiming high, he managed, by luck or by genius, to hit his target. In adapting his novel for the stage, he created a timeless portrait of two people from different worlds, whose love, by joining their hearts, prevents their union. This translation attempts to capture the colloquial informality of the...