French Fiction of To-Day (Volume 2)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1891. Excerpt: ... XII. Madame Henry Greville--Her three series--Madame Th. Bentzon--Her translations and novels-- Brada, her last book, crowned by the Academy--Madame de Rute--Madame Judith Gauthier, the worthy daughter of a great man--La Marchande de Sourires--Madame Severine--Jules Valles--The madman's wooden shoe--The pits of St. Etienne. I Have already alluded to the scarcity of women of letters on the other side of the Channel; it is a circumstance all the more remarkable that in France the position of the female part of the community is so important. They are admitted on a footing of perfect equality with men in business and commerce, consulted in politics, and listened to with consideration; they are excellent accountants, managers and book-keepers, and as active mercantile partners their services are invaluable to their husbands. But apart from those who take a practical and personal share in the welfare of their house, there are few who like to come before the public in the capacity of writers of fiction. When they do it is from a sincere conviction and because they really possess considerable aptitudes; it is therefore an act of justice to mention specially and individually their names and their contributions to contemporary literature. In 1876, the very year when Georges Sand died, after a long and glorious career leaving an immortal name, a tyro in her art achieved her first and great success with a double venture. Madame Durand, whose nom deplume is Madame Henry Greville, published simultaneously two novels: Dosia, now running in its sixty-sixth edition, appeared in the feuilleton of the Journal des Debats, and I'Expiation de Saveli came out in the Revue des Deux Mondes, whose editor was less timorous than Russian publishers, who had been alarmed at what the...