Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-248) and index.

"Draws attention to the struggles of women to enter the mainstream of French literature since 1876 and the special qualities of these French women writers"--Goodreads.com.

List of illustrations : Illustration from Gyp's novel, La Fee -- Madeleine de Scudery, 1607-1701 -- Marie Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette, 1633-1693 -- Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sevigne, 1626-1696 -- Anne Louise Germaine, Baronne de Stael Holstein, 'Mme de Stael', 1766-1817, by Gerard -- Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, 1786-1859, by Hilaire Ledru -- Marie d'Agoult, Comtesse de Flavigny, 'Daniel Stern', 1805-1876 -- Armantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, Baronne Dudevant, 'George Sand', 1804-1876, by Charpentier -- Judith Gautier, 1845-1917, photo by Nadar -- Colette and her husband Willy, photo by Lalance -- Colette, 1873-1954 -- Anna, Comtesse de Noailles, 1876-1933, drawing by Cocteau -- Simone de Beauvoir, 1908- -- Simone Weil, 1909-1943 -- Nathalie Sarraute, 1900-, photo by Jerry Bauer -- Marguerite Duras, 1914-, photo by Jerry Bauer -- Monique Wittig -- Minou Drouet -- Francoise Mallet-Joris -- Albertine Sarrazin, 1937-1967 -- Albertine's drawing of the prison at Doullance.

"Ms. Crosland turns her attention to French women writers to discover what special qualities distinguish them from their counterparts in other countries. In the hundred years since George Sand's death in 1876, women writers in France have surmounted obstacles that barely existsed in other, non-Catholic countries. This study of women who wrote in French (for some, as Marie-Claire Blais of Canada, have not been French-born) recounts their struggle to move into the mainstream of French literature, and at the same time illuminates a good deal about feminine psychology. Writers such as Colette and Marguerite Audoux played an important part earlier in the twentieth century by writing on social themes and by making the public aware, albeit unconsciously, of the low status of women. After 1945 some of these writers attained international success: Simone de Beauvoir, Francoise Sagan, Violette Leduc, Francois Mallet-Joris to name only a few. Two major figures in the nouveau roman have been women--Nathalie Sarraute and Marguerite Duras; Simone Weil, Zoe Oldenbourg, Marguerite Yourcenar have all been outstanding writers in different fields. Ms. Crosland considers the homosexual and bisexual aspect and the special use women writers have made of autobiographical material and their place in cultural history. She also discusses how the individualism displayed by these French women writers has perhaps contributed more to the women's movement than has organized militancy"--page [2] of jacket.

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