Mallet-Joris, Françoise

(1930- )

   writer

   Of Belgian origin, Françoise Mallet-Joris was born in Antwerp. she made her literary debut with Le Rempart des béguines (1952), which already showed her ability to describe the adolescent soul as it deals with the world of adults (Allégra, 1976). After having written a sequel to this first work, La Chambre rouge (1953), Mallet-Joris published a collection of short stories, Cordélia (1954), then Les Mensonges (1956), a detailed account of the Flemish world. Her sense of irony is apparent in L'Empire céleste (prix Femina 1958), and she brings a feminist approach to historical writings such as Les Personnages (evoking the period of Cardinal Richelieu; 1961), Marie Mancini (1965), Trois Âges de la nuit (dedicated to sorceresses; 1958), and Jeanne Guyon (1978). With Lettre à moi-même (1963), Les Signes et les Prodiges (1966), and La Maison de papier (1970), Mallet-Joris revealed herself through autobiography. She returned to the novel with Dickie roi (1980), Le Rire de Laura (1985), and La Tristesse du cerf-volant (1988). She was named to the Académie Goncourt in 1970.