Marianne

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Published in the U.S. for the first time, this novella by Sand was written in 1876, the year of her death. Marianne Chevreuse, the 25-year-old heroine of this romantic tale set in 1825, is a character who embodies many of the ideas for which Sand is known. Marianne is independent yet intensely female, and she breaks many conventions of society while living by her own deeply held moral beliefs. Pierre Andre is an older man who has known her since her childhood. When asked to introduce her to a prospective suitor, he discovers his own love for Marianne. The plot twists and turns until the unsuitable Philippe Gaucherwho is indeed gaucheis sent packing and Pierre and Marianne are betrothed. While very much a period piece, this last scrap of Sand's tremendous oeuvre is a charming bit of entertainment. Miles has fleshed out the book with an illuminating introduction that functions as a brief biography of la Bonne Dame de Nohant, complete with many letters from the Sand-Flaubert correspondence. Sand's enormous influence on writers from Balzac to Dostoevsky to Turgenev is legend. This little story offers an exciting opportunity for one last glimpse of that genius. (July)

Library Journal

The corpus of Sand's works is enormous, and parts of it remain inaccessible even today. A republican and socialist, she was also an ardent feminist, and her work is now being re-evaluated in light of her written contributions to the cause. This novel was written during the last year of her life, and its protagonist epitomizes the ideal woman: she is independent (owning her property), simple in her lifestyle, wary of the seduction of words, and willing to entertain marriage only as a joint partnership. Miles's translation is not the very best: the narration and dialogues are too modern, ignoring Sand's intentionally bucolic style. But the introduction (a biography and selected letters) provides helpful insights into the work of this prolific writer. Danielle Mihram, New York Univ. Lib.