author
Rachilde
1860–1953
A daring, unconventional voice of French Decadent literature, this novelist and playwright became famous for fiction that challenged social rules and played provocatively with gender and desire. Writing under a pen name, she helped shape the literary life of fin-de-siècle Paris both on the page and in criticism.
8 Audiobooks
Monsieur Vénus
by Rachilde
La Marquise de Sade
by Rachilde
Le Démon de l'Absurde
by Rachilde
L'heure sexuelle : roman
by Rachilde
La tour d'amour : roman
by Rachilde
Le dessous : roman
by Rachilde
Refaire l'amour : roman
by Rachilde
La souris japonaise : roman
by Rachilde
About the author
Born Marguerite Vallette-Eymery in 1860 near Périgueux, France, she wrote under the name Rachilde and built a reputation as one of the most striking figures linked to the Decadent movement. She is especially remembered for Monsieur Vénus (1884), a novel that caused scandal for its bold treatment of sexuality and reversed gender roles.
Rachilde was not only a novelist but also a playwright and critic. She became closely connected with the literary world around Mercure de France, the influential journal edited by her husband, Alfred Vallette, and she was an important presence in Parisian Symbolist and Decadent circles.
Her work still stands out for its intensity, strangeness, and refusal to fit easy categories. For listeners curious about writers who pushed against the limits of their era, Rachilde offers a vivid glimpse into the experimental energy of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French literature.