2008, Atlas & Co.

One of the great literary forces of her age, or any age, Germaine de Staël was born into the political and intellectual aristocracy of her time. The daughter of Jacques Necker, Louis XVI's finance minister, she married Sweden's ambassador to the French court and for two decades held the limelight as a political figure and prolific writer. Admittedly not a beauty, she was nonetheless notoriously seductive and enjoyed whirlwind affairs with some of the most influential men of her time. She was demonized by Napoleon for her forthrightness, her powerful intellect, and her prestigious salon, a hothouse of subversive ideas and sexual intrigue. The emperor exiled her, on and off, for the last two decades of her life. Madame de Staël - force of nature, exuberant idealist, and ultimate enthusiast - waged a lifelong struggle against all that was tyrannical, cynical, or passionless in her time, and left a legacy of enlightened liberalism that radiated throughout Europe during the nineteenth century.

Francine du Plessix Gray does a marvelous job in Madame de Stael, filling us in on the French Revolution as though it were (almost) easy to understand, recognizing de Stael's faults (delusions of grandeur, mostly), while steadfastly commending her talents, her sweet nature, her generosity. I loved this book!
Carolyn See, The Washington Post

Faithful to de Staël's incessant energy, Gray follows her movements at a forceful pace, masterfully commanding a wide cast of characters while streamlining the frantic narrative of her subject's life.
Publisher's Weekly

Gray's absorbing work joins only a handful of biographies dedicated to the life of this remarkable woman. Highly recommended for all libraries that support French history and literature collections.
Library Journal

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