“Rachilde, a man of letters”

“Rachilde, a man of letters” 🖋️🔖

Have you heard of Marguerite Eymery, known as Rachilde? Proust often mentioned her in his letters, and suspected that she did not particularly appreciate his work. 💔

The author of 65 books, she was born in 1860, 11 years before him, and hosted one of the most popular salons in Symbolist and ‘fin de siècle’ literary circles: Verlaine and Verhaeren, Gide and Louÿs, Wilde and Huysmans, Moréas and Barrès, Renard and Bloy were regular visitors to the offices of @mercuredefrance, where she held her receptions. 📚🎈

The daughter of a narrow-minded soldier and a mother who practised spiritualism, Marguerite adopted her pen name during a Ouija board séance. In 1947, she published “Quand j’étais jeune” 🕰️🖋️, in which she recounts her experiences of her alcoholic and violent father and her depressed mother, who died in a mental asylum. 🍷

In 1885, she applied for and was granted permission to cross-dress by the Prefecture of Police, predating Colette and her famous garçonne hairstyle. 🫣

In “Monsieur Venus”, Rachilde tells the story of an affair between a domineering aristocrat and a humble florist’s assistant 🌺, reversing the familiar roles of the bourgeois and the grisette, recurring figures in the realist novel.

Rachilde died in 1953, aged 93. 👵🏻

🛍️ @editions_gallimard has just reissued Rachilde’s most famous (and most scandalous) novels through @editionsfolio and in the stunning @limaginaire_gallimard collection! 🙌🏻

💡 @lapartcommune has also published a short, controversial piece by Rachilde entitled “Why I am not a feminist”.

#MargueriteEymery #Rachilde #proustagram