Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai)

Masochistic

deriving pleasure from being abused or dominated

Somnambulate

walk in one's sleep

Plaintive

expressing sorrow

Audacity

aggressive or outright boldness

Statutory

relating to or created by regulations

Tryst

a secret rendezvous, especially a romantic one

Insidious

working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way

Macabre

shockingly repellent; inspiring horror

Superannuated

too old to be useful

Vertiginous

having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling

Undulate

move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion

Sate

fill to contentment

Limpid

clear and bright

Surreptitious

marked by quiet and caution and secrecy

Bourgeois

being of the property-owning class

Risible

arousing or provoking laughter

Foist

force onto another

Redolent

having a strong pleasant odor

Incognito

without revealing one's identity

Trepidation

a feeling of alarm or dread