Known almost as well for her colorful personal life as for her remarkable literary gifts, the French writer Colette (1873-1954) has long fascinated critics and biographers, feminists and general readers. Thrice married, Colette earned her livelihood not only as a writer but also as a music hall performer, a beautician, and an actress.

In her lifetime she published scores of works including plays, short stories, journal articles, animal dialogues, memoirs, and novels, among them the Claudine series, Cheri, Le Ble en herbe, and Gigi. For these and other achievements, Colette was named a member of the Belgian Royal Academy and the French Legion of Honor. In addition, she became the first female president of the Academie Goncourt and, upon her death, the first woman in French history to be accorded a state funeral.

1. In Colette, Updated Edition, Joan Hinde Stewart provides a timely revision of her well-received 1983 volume, taking into account recent critical and biographical analyses of Colette, as well as significant new source materials, such as the long-awaited volumes in the Pleiade edition of Colette's works.