French Literature Reviews - 2026
Antoine Compagnon, Un été avec Colette
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Why Colette? A great writer is also one who creates myths, who revitalizes our mythology. "To create a cliché is genius," Baudelaire once said. Colette created four enduring myths: Claudine, Sido, Gigi, and Colette herself—a towering national writer and a true literary icon (*monstre sacré*). Admired by Simone de Beauvoir and celebrated as a pioneer of transgression and provocation, she infuses her novels with that breath of freedom we so deeply miss today.
Antoine Compagnon explores every facet of Colette, from the most famous to the most secretive. He examines Claudine, her very first heroine, whose authorship was hijacked by her husband Willy, who published his wife's texts under his own name, stealing both her success and her money. Then there is Sido, inspired by her own mother and arguably her finest fictional creation, alongside Gigi, her charming, lighthearted literary double who is fortunate in love and marriage—standing in stark contrast to her creator, who would flee "man, so often cruel" to seek refuge among women.
From her native Burgundy to the presidency of the Académie Goncourt—despite having no formal academic degrees—Colette was never where people expected her to be, and she steered literature into territories no one else had ever dared to enter. More accessible than Proust, and more modern than Gide, Claudel, or Valéry, Colette achieved the remarkable feat of being taught in schools while retaining the thrillingly subversive edge of her work. To read Colette today is to embrace the 20th century in all its extravagance, brought to life through a style that has aged not a day.
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An article discussing this book can be found on nonfiction.fr:
Colette occupies a unique position in modern French literature, bridging the gap between accessible storytelling and profound aesthetic innovation. Her works engage with themes of personal freedom, sensuality, and social transgression that defined much of the twentieth-century French literary landscape. Alongside contemporaries such as André Gide and Marcel Proust, she helped reshape narrative prose and the exploration of identity. Readers interested in twentieth-century French literature and the evolution of literary icons may find this overview of her life and writing relevant.
Antoine Compagnon explores every facet of Colette, from the most famous to the most secretive, tracing her journey from her native Burgundy to the presidency of the Académie Goncourt despite having no formal academic degrees. The text highlights her creation of enduring literary figures, including Claudine, whose authorship was hijacked by her husband Willy, Sido, and Gigi, while touching upon the complexities of her personal life and her relationship with literary fame. Through these discussions, the volume reflects on how her writing continues to resonate and maintain its distinct place in cultural memory.
"Colette for Today", by Anne Coudreuse (published online June 23, 2022)