Women writers of the French 18th century claimed reason, argues Bostic (French, Baylor U.), and contributed to the Enlightenment. She focuses on works of imaginative literature by three authors
from the middle of the century to after the Revolution: Fran癟oise de Graffigny, Marie Jeanne Riccoboni, and Isabelle de Charri矇re. She shows how they express their views on reason and gender in
creative works that provide a counterweight to sweeping modern dismissals of Enlightenment thinkers. Indeed, she contends that by exposing and critiquing gender bias, they embraced the
egalitarian ethos of the Enlightenment more fully than their male contemporaries. Distributed in the US by Associated University Presses. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
