Claudine at School

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, known as Colette, was born in Burgundy in 1873. An outstanding stylist and penetrating observer, Colette’s early works appeared under her first husband’s pen name, ‘Willy’. She claimed that she would never become a writer had it not been for his help. But her husband kept almost all the earnings from these successful early novels, leaving Colette in poverty and ill-health following an inevitable divorce. She supported herself in a variety of ways, including acting and mime but most notably through journalism. She kept writing fiction, using her exceptional literary talents to tell painful stories that frequently centre on gender inequalities. A true pioneer, she wrote passionate stories about love, sexuality and gender, writing prolifically until she died in 1954.

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