Book Reviews - Review 278

(Qualifier: ages since I read this.)

An extremely early psychological novel. I can't remember much about it, but it centres on a young princess who falls in love with somebody or other, and emotional intrigues throughout the court.

Perhaps because of the antique language, I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I have enjoyed more modern French fiction. Despite that, I was struck by the incisiveness of de la Fayette's psychological understanding. On that level, it seemed incredibly modern: French novelists were properly philosophising long before those in the rest of Europe had got started.