Author Guide · Diaries, Fiction & Erotica
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In the summer of 1914 an eleven-year-old Anaïs Nin, on the ship taking her from Europe to New York, began a letter to the father who had left the family. The letter became a diary, and she kept it until her death in 1977: by 1966 it ran to some 150 manuscript volumes. It now exists in three overlapping published forms: the seven volumes she edited herself from 1966, which made her famous at sixty-three; four volumes of the early diary; and eight unexpurgated volumes, published after her death, that restore what she left out, beginning with Henry and June (1986). Alongside the diary she wrote a prose poem, novellas, stories, a five-part novel and two collections of erotica written for a private client in the 1940s. This guide covers her twelve key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 12 key books · 1936–2013 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Anaïs Nin is best known for The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931–1934 (1966), the unexpurgated Henry and June (1986), and the erotica collection Delta of Venus (1977). Her fiction includes House of Incest (1936), Under a Glass Bell (1944) and A Spy in the House of Love (1954). Start with Volume 1 of the Diary, then read Henry and June to see what she cut from the same years.
Where to Start with Anaïs Nin
If you want the diary as she chose to publish it
→ The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1966) — Paris, Louveciennes and the start of her friendship with Henry Miller.
If you want the same years without the cuts
→ Henry and June (1986) — the first unexpurgated volume, filmed in 1990.
If you want her fiction
→ Under a Glass Bell (1944) — the stories Edmund Wilson praised in The New Yorker.
If you want the erotica
→ Delta of Venus (1977) — the stories written for a private collector in the 1940s.
12 Anaïs Nin Books, in Order
House of Incest
Her first work of fiction, a short prose poem in surrealist style, published in Paris in 1936 by Siana Editions, an imprint she had set up there. It follows a narrator through a dream-like world, and its central idea is that a world built only for pleasure is sterile. She wrote it while seeing the psychoanalyst Otto Rank, who helped edit it, and it draws on her relationships with her father and with the Millers. A US edition followed in 1947.
Winter of Artifice
Three novellas, first published in Paris in 1939: “Djuna”, a fictional version of the story later told in Henry and June; “Lilith”, about a daughter and her musician father, long absent from her life; and “The Voice”, set around a psychoanalyst. Most copies were lost when the war began. In 1942 she reprinted a shortened version herself in New York, on a second-hand press she ran with her lover Gonzalo Moré, and later editions dropped “Djuna” altogether.
Under a Glass Bell
Short stories she printed and published herself at her Gemor Press in New York in 1944, after commercial publishers had turned her down. Many are prose portraits of places and people from her Paris years, among them “The Houseboat”, set on the Seine. Edmund Wilson reviewed it warmly in The New Yorker; she said the review “launched” her, and the first edition sold out in three weeks.
Ladders to Fire
Published by Dutton in October 1946 with engravings by Ian Hugo, the name her husband Hugh Guiler used as an artist. Its women include the forceful, restless Lillian, the more fragile Djuna, the film actress Stella and Sabina, alongside Lillian’s lover Jay. It is the first part of the “continuous novel” she later gathered as Cities of the Interior, whose characters return across all five books.
A Spy in the House of Love
The fourth part of Cities of the Interior and her best-known novel. In New York in the early 1950s, Sabina, an actress married to the gentle, steady Alan, uses her work as cover for a series of affairs and keeps her husband from knowing. The novel is less about the affairs than about the lies she needs to hold several selves together, a subject close to Nin’s own life.
The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1
The first volume of the diary as Nin edited it for publication with Gunther Stuhlmann, covering her years in Louveciennes outside Paris: her book on D. H. Lawrence, her meeting with Henry and June Miller, and her analysis with René Allendy and Otto Rank. Her husband Hugh Guiler does not appear in it at all. It was hugely popular with young women and made her, at sixty-three, a feminist figure of the late 1960s. Six more volumes followed, up to 1980.
Delta of Venus
Erotic stories written in New York in the early 1940s for an anonymous collector who paid a dollar a page; Henry Miller, approached first, had passed the work on to her. In the preface, taken from her diary, she says the collector wanted no poetry and no description of anything but sex, and that she wrote partly with tongue in cheek. Long reluctant to publish, she agreed while ill with cancer, and the book appeared months after her death. It spent 36 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Linotte
The first volume of the early diary, begun on the voyage to New York in 1914 and written in French, here translated by Jean L. Sherman, with a preface by her brother Joaquín Nin-Culmell. It follows her from eleven to seventeen: a girl in New York writing to an absent father and deciding she will be a writer. Three more volumes take the early diary to 1931.
Little Birds
A second collection of the erotic stories she wrote for the same collector in the 1940s, published in 1979, two years after her death.
Henry and June
The first unexpurgated volume, covering October 1931 to October 1932, the same months as the start of Volume 1. Here her marriage to Hugh Guiler is back on the page, along with her fascination with June Miller and her affair with Henry Miller, which became a lifelong friendship. Its editor, John Ferrone, cut it to concentrate on her love life. Philip Kaufman filmed it as Henry & June (1990), with Maria de Medeiros as Nin, the first film released in the US with the new NC-17 rating.
Incest
The second unexpurgated volume, 1932–1934, edited by Gunther Stuhlmann. It covers the end of her involvement with the Millers, her analysis with Otto Rank, a pregnancy that ended in the sixth month, and her renewed contact with her father, the composer Joaquín Nin, with whom she had a brief sexual relationship in 1933. It also shows her at work on House of Incest. Its prose is much rawer than the edited diary.
Mirages
Edited by Paul Herron and published by Swallow Press with Sky Blue Press, it restores material she cut from Volumes 3 and 4 of the original diary. It begins with the outbreak of war, when she and Guiler leave Paris for New York, and ends in 1947 with her meeting Rupert Pole. Henry Miller, Edmund Wilson and Gore Vidal all appear.
In What Order to Read Anaïs Nin
The diary is the centre of her work, and it is easiest in this order: Volume 1 of the original edition first, then the unexpurgated Henry and June and Incest for the same years. Reading the edited and uncut versions side by side shows how carefully she shaped the public record, which is part of what makes her interesting. The early diary (Linotte onwards) is best kept for later, once you know who she became.
Her fiction reuses the diary’s people and events, so it reads better after a diary volume. Under a Glass Bell is the easiest way in; the five novels of Cities of the Interior, starting with Ladders to Fire, can be read in order but each stands alone. The erotica is a separate strand and can be read at any point.
A reading path
1. The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1966)
2. Henry and June (1986)
3. Under a Glass Bell (1944)
4. A Spy in the House of Love (1954)
5. Delta of Venus (1977)
Everything Else Anaïs Nin Published
Beyond the 12 key books: 27 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
The Diary, original edition
6
6 books · 1967–1980
- 1967The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 2: 1934–1939Paris, Henry Miller’s circle, the approach of war
- 1969The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 3: 1939–1944the move to New York and the Gemor Press
- 1971The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 4: 1944–1947New York artists and writers
- 1974The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 5: 1947–1955Acapulco, California and her mother’s death
- 1976The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 6: 1955–1966dedicated to the doctors who saved her life in 1975
- 1980The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 7: 1966–1974published after her death
The early diary
3
3 books · 1982–1985
- 1982The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 2: 1920–1923her late teens in New York
- 1983Journal of a Wife: The Early Diary, 1923–1927marriage to Hugh Guiler and the move to Paris
- 1985The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 4: 1927–1931the years just before Volume 1
The unexpurgated diary
5
5 books · 1995–2023
- 1995Fire: 1934–1937Miller, Rank and Gonzalo Moré
- 1996Nearer the Moon: 1937–1939Paris before the war, Miller and Moré
- 2017Trapeze: 1947–1955the start of her life between New York and California
- 2021The Diary of Others: 1955–1966two marriages, ending with the publication of Volume 1
- 2023A Joyous Transformation: 1966–1977fame, lecture tours and her final illness; the last volume
Fiction
8
8 books · 1947–2016
- 1947Children of the AlbatrossCities of the Interior, part two
- 1950The Four-Chambered HeartCities of the Interior, part three
- 1958Solar Barqueexpanded in 1961 as Seduction of the Minotaur
- 1959Cities of the Interiorthe continuous novel collected in one volume
- 1961Seduction of the MinotaurCities of the Interior, part five
- 1964Collagesthe last novel published in her lifetime
- 1977Waste of Timelessness and Other Early Storiesearly stories, published after her death
- 2016Auletrismore erotica from the 1940s
Non-fiction and letters
5
5 books · 1932–1987
- 1932D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Studyher first book
- 1968The Novel of the Futureon her ideas about fiction
- 1975A Woman Speakslectures and interviews
- 1976In Favor of the Sensitive Manessays
- 1987A Literate Passionher letters with Henry Miller, 1932–1953
The years · 1903–2023
Quick facts about Anaïs Nin
- Known for
- A diary she kept from the age of eleven until her death, published first in a version she edited herself and later uncut, and for her erotica
- 1903
- Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
- 1914
- Starts the diary on the voyage to New York
- 1939
- Leaves Paris for New York as war begins
- 1977
- Dies in Los Angeles
- 2023
- Last volume of the unexpurgated diary
- Born
- 21 February 1903, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, to the Cuban composer Joaquín Nin and the singer Rosa Culmell
- Died
- 14 January 1977, Los Angeles, of cancer
- Married
- Hugh Guiler (1923); Rupert Pole (1955, annulled 1966)
- The diary
- Kept from 1914 to 1977; about 150 manuscript volumes by 1966
- Honours
- National Institute of Arts and Letters (1974); Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year (1976)
- On film
- Henry & June (1990), directed by Philip Kaufman
The red mark is 1966: the first volume of her Diary, which made her famous at sixty-three.
How Anaïs Nin Writes: The Diary and Everything Around It
Nin wrote the diary almost every day for more than sixty years, and nearly everything else she wrote grew out of it. Characters in her fiction are drawn from people in its pages, and the novellas of Winter of Artifice work through material about her father and her analysts that she could not yet publish as fact. Her prose is lyrical and inward: she writes about moods, dreams and states of mind more than about plot, influenced by the surrealists and by psychoanalysis, which she studied with Otto Rank.
The published diary is itself an edited work. For the volumes from 1966 she cut her husband, her lovers and much of her inner life, and shaped the rest. The unexpurgated volumes, overseen after her death by Rupert Pole and later edited by Paul Herron, restore much of that, and their prose is rougher and more direct. Comparing the two shows a writer constantly deciding what to reveal, which is why some critics treat the diary as literature rather than a plain record.
Her erotica is the exception to her usual method: written to order, for money, under instructions to leave out the poetry. She said she wrote it partly as a caricature of what the client wanted, and it is more plotted and more direct than her other fiction. For writers with a similar mix of confession, sensuality and self-invention, see Authors like Anaïs Nin.
Watch
Anaïs Nin at Hampshire College
A recording of Nin speaking at Hampshire College, Massachusetts, in 1972, in the years when the published diary had made her a sought-after lecturer.
Frequently asked questions about Anaïs Nin’s books
How many books has Anaïs Nin written?
Around forty, counting the diaries and letters published after her death. This page lists 39: the 12 key books above and 27 more below, including all nineteen diary volumes, her five-part novel Cities of the Interior, the erotica and her non-fiction.
What are Anaïs Nin’s books in order?
The key books are House of Incest (1936), Winter of Artifice (1939), Under a Glass Bell (1944), Ladders to Fire (1946), A Spy in the House of Love (1954), The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1966), Delta of Venus (1977), Linotte (1978), Little Birds (1979), Henry and June (1986), Incest (1992) and Mirages (2013).
Where should I start with Anaïs Nin?
With The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931–1934 (1966), the book that made her name. If you want fiction first, Under a Glass Bell (1944) is the most approachable.
Which Anaïs Nin diary should I read first?
Volume 1 of the original Diary (1966), covering 1931–1934. Then read Henry and June (1986), the first unexpurgated volume, which covers the same period with her marriage and her affair with Henry Miller restored.
How many volumes of the Anaïs Nin diaries are there?
Nineteen, in three overlapping series: the seven volumes of The Diary of Anaïs Nin (1966–1980), covering 1931 to 1974; four volumes of the early diary (1978–1985), covering 1914 to 1931; and eight unexpurgated volumes, from Henry and June (1986) to A Joyous Transformation (2023), which run to her death in 1977.
What is the difference between the original diaries and the unexpurgated diaries?
For the original volumes, published from 1966, Nin left out her husband Hugh Guiler, her lovers and much of her private life. The unexpurgated volumes, published after her death, restore that material: the affair with Henry Miller, her relationships with Otto Rank and Gonzalo Moré, and her double life with two husbands. Rupert Pole oversaw the first of them; the later volumes were edited by Paul Herron.
What is Anaïs Nin’s most famous book?
The diary as a whole, and especially Volume 1 (1966), which made her a feminist figure of the late 1960s. Henry and June (1986) is her best-known single title, partly because of the 1990 film, and Delta of Venus (1977) spent 36 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Did Anaïs Nin write fiction, not just diaries?
Yes: the prose poem House of Incest (1936), the novellas of Winter of Artifice (1939), the stories of Under a Glass Bell (1944), the novel Collages (1964) and Cities of the Interior, a five-part novel made up of Ladders to Fire, Children of the Albatross, The Four-Chambered Heart, A Spy in the House of Love and Seduction of the Minotaur (1961). She also wrote the erotica collections Delta of Venus and Little Birds.
Why did Anaïs Nin write erotica?
For money. In the early 1940s an anonymous collector paid a dollar a page for erotic stories; Henry Miller was asked first and passed the job to her and friends. She resisted publishing them for decades and agreed while ill with cancer, to provide for her husband Hugh Guiler and for Rupert Pole after her death. Delta of Venus appeared in 1977 and Little Birds in 1979.
Is Henry & June based on a true story?
Yes. Philip Kaufman’s 1990 film is based on Henry and June (1986), her unexpurgated diary of 1931–1932, and follows her relationships with Henry Miller and his wife June. Maria de Medeiros plays Nin, Fred Ward plays Miller and Uma Thurman plays June. It was the first film released in the US with the NC-17 rating.
Was Anaïs Nin married to two men at once?
Yes. She married the banker Hugh Guiler in 1923 and, while still married to him, married Rupert Pole in Arizona in 1955, living between New York and California; the second marriage was annulled in 1966. This and the unexpurgated volumes, including Incest (1992), which describes a brief relationship with her father in 1933, have made her a contested figure, and some critics have questioned how far the diaries can be taken as a factual record.
When did Anaïs Nin die?
On 14 January 1977 in Los Angeles, aged 73, of cancer. She was born on 21 February 1903 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.
Did Anaïs Nin say “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are”?
A version of the line appears in her novel Seduction of the Minotaur (1961), where it is presented as a Talmudic saying, so it is not originally hers. The often-shared “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud…” has not been found in her work.
Footnotes
- Anaïs Nin — Wikipedia
- The Diary of Anaïs Nin — Wikipedia
- Anaïs Nin — Encyclopædia Britannica
- Delta of Venus — Bestsellers database, University of Virginia
- A Joyous Transformation — Sky Blue Press
- Henry & June, the NC-17 pioneer — The Hollywood Reporter
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live.”
— Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 5, February 1954
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