Publisher's Synopsis
This biography of Madame du Deffand describes the life of this highly intelligent libertine and the role she played in the social and cultural life of 18th-century France. Quoting extensively from her subject's correspondence, Craveri attempts to relive the world of the "philosophes" of the Enlightment, centred around Voltaire and d'Alembert, and unravels a complex world of extreme intelligence, taste and sensibility, revealing a new view of reality, full of foreboding for the future.;Gifted with destructive insight, and dominated by obsessive boredom, Madame du Deffand tended towards cynicism and wariness in her opinion of men, ever-fearful of being disappointed by others. When she became old and blind, she developed a passion for the young English writer Horace Walpole, son of the Prime Minister.;The author has been awarded the Viareggio and Comisso prizes in Italy and the Prix de Meilleur Livre Etranger in France for this biography.
