Description
Book SynopsisAccursed Politics—a potent phrase used by one of Jean Jacques Rousseau's female characters—probes the intriguingly subtle equivocations revealed by six highly gifted and fascinating French women writers who were deeply involved in the political life of their day. Ostensibly denied any public political role, they paid lip service to the conventional pieties and went their own way. Their activities, as elegantly described by Renee Winegarten, ranged widely through the political spectrum. "Scandalous" Alexandrine de Tencin, former nun and popular novelist, enjoyed promoting her brother's political career while criticizing the monarchy of the ancien régime. Manon Roland, fascinated with politics from girlhood, a revolutionary of the first hour, shared in her husband's Girondin ministry and left important memoirs. Claire de Duras, loyal but tormented liberal royalist and author of far-seeing novels, worked tirelessly to serve the political career of her friend Chateaubriand. Félicité de Genlis, famed novelist and educationist, onetime lover of Philippe Egalité and tutor to his son, Louis Philippe, moved from revolutionary commitment to conservatism. Germaine de Staël, born into politics, was not only an influential novelist but a political thinker, one of the founders of political liberalism in France. And George Sand, whose controversial novels raised the consciousness of women and helped change their status, was long preoccupied with politics; she worked on the extreme left and called herself a communist. In Accursed Politics, Ms. Winegarten brings these absorbing women to life in a piece of history that has considerable resonance for our own time.
Trade ReviewMrs. Wingarten, who has written widely about French literature and culture, delivers keen insights on the intellectual life of the times, integrating the world of literature and ideas into the political lives these women led. -- Carol Herman * The Washington Times *
This engaging scholarly chronicle of the lives of these remarkable women is essential for all serious students of French literature and civilization. -- Bob T. Ivey * Library Journal *
One of the most elegant and beguiling social historians now writing...full of colorful details and fascinating insights. -- Brooke Allen
As portraiture, as criticism, and as an account of life and letters in France before and after the Revolution, this beautifully written book is itself a literary triumph. -- Hilton Kramer
A genial survey of the lives and political influence of six women writers in France...a stimulating overview. * Times Literary Supplement *
…Offers vivid and informed portraits of these women and their world. * H-France Review *
