The Complete Claudine: Claudine at School; Claudine in Paris; Claudine Married; Claudine and Annie Spiral-Bound | September 5, 2001

Unforgettable classics by the grande dame of French letters, reissued in elegant new editions with new introductions by Judith Thurman

Colette, prodded by her first husband, Willy, began her writing career with Claudine at School, which catapulted the young author into instant, sensational success. Colette herself has recounted how Willy sat her down one day and ordered her to write her schoolgirl reminiscences, the spicier the better. Among the most autobiographical of Colette's works, the Claudine novels are dominated by the child-woman Claudine, whose strength, humor, and zest for living make her seem almost a symbol for the life force. Janet Flanner described these books as "amazing writing on the almost girlish search for the absolute of happiness in physical love . . . recorded by a literary brain always wide awake on the pillow."

The Vagabond
Thirty-three years old and recently divorced, Renee Nere has begun a new life on her own, supporting herself as a music-hall artist. Maxime, a rich and idle bachelor, intrudes on her independent existence and offers his love and the comforts of marriage. A provincial tour puts distance between them and enables Renee, in a moving series of letters and meditations, to resolve alone the struggle between her need to be loved and her need to have a life and work of her own.

"The Vagabond, one of the first and best feminist novels ever written, is that rare thing: a great book which is also inspiring."
--Erica Jong