About the author: Anne de Sola is French born and lives in England. She has a PhD from the University of Reading, where she teaches in the Department of French Studies. Her main research interests are in the 18th-century French novel on which she has written several articles, including a monograph on Robert Challe. She is currently involved in a new edition of the four translations of French novels by Penelope Aubin. This is the second in the series. The first, A Critical Edition of Penelope Aubin’s Translation of Robert Challe’s Les Illustres françaises/The Illustrious Lovers was published by Mellen in 2000.
2003 0-7734-6610-X Set in 17th-century France, this novel tells how love gets around obstacles to fulfill its objective in the celebration of marriage. The main story of Madam de Ravezan and her Prince is developed as an echo of the story of her parents, and a template for the story of her children. This novel is a perfect example of what constituted the taste of the reader in late 17th-century France and early 18th-century England. In terms of narrative techniques, it is also an illustration of the evolution of the genre toward modernity.