Will O' the Wisp (novel)

Will O' the Wisp

First edition cover
Author	Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Original title	Le Feu follet
Language	French
Publisher	Éditions Gallimard
Publication date	1 May 1931
Publication place	France
Published in English	1965
Pages	215

Will O' the Wisp (French: Le feu follet) is a 1931 novel by the French writer Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. It has also been published in English as The Fire Within. It tells the story of a 30-year-old man who after military service, followed by a few years of cosmopolitan, decadent life, has become burned out, addicted to heroin and tired of living. The author's source of inspiration for the main character was the dadaist poet Jacques Rigaut (1898–1929).^[1]

The novel has been the basis for two feature films, Louis Malle's The Fire Within from 1963 and Joachim Trier's Oslo, August 31st from 2011.