author
Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
1650–1705
A bold and imaginative voice from 17th-century France, she helped shape the literary fairy tale into a form that could be witty, glamorous, and quietly rebellious. Her stories still stand out for their sparkle, invention, and sharp eye for power and romance.
5 Audiobooks
Contes, Tome II
by Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
Contes, Tome I
by Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
La cour et la ville de Madrid vers la fin du XVIIe siècle Relation du voyage d'Espagne par la comtesse d'Aulnoy
by Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
The Ingenious and Diverting Letters of the Lady ---- Travels into Spain Describing the Devotions, Nunneries, Humours, Customs, Laws, Militia, Trade, Diet and Recreations of That People
by Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
Princess Belle-Etoile
by Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
About the author
Born Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville around 1650 in Normandy, Madame d'Aulnoy became one of the best-known French writers of fairy tales. Britannica describes her as a writer of fairy tales and court-intrigue novels, and modern scholars often credit her with helping popularize the French phrase contes de fées.
Her life seems to have been as dramatic as her fiction. Sources agree that she married very young to François de la Motte, Baron d'Aulnoy, and that her career later flourished in literary circles in Paris. She published tales and travel writing in the 1690s, and works such as Contes des fées helped make her a major figure in the early history of fairy literature.
What makes her especially interesting to modern readers is the mix of elegance and edge in her work. Beneath the enchantment, her stories often explore marriage, status, desire, and the limited choices available to women of her time, which helps explain why her voice still feels lively and surprising today.