Voltaire in Love

nancy mitford

In 1733, the lovely, intelligent, and married Marquise du Châtelet commenced her romance with one François-Marie Arouet, a philosophe who had made a name for himself as "Voltaire." Mitford deftly and engagingly recounts their exemplary affair, whether in studious exile in the country, on the run from the censor, or in the "thoughtless circles of high society." Her portrayals of the "scamp" philosopher, his mistress who was "excessive in everything," and their "irregular century" are delightful portraits in themselves and as a group, a fascinating fresco of the French Enlightenment.

Genres biographyhistorynonfictionfrancephilosophy18th centuryhistoricalclassicsliteratureromance

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 1,1957

This edition

Format: 288 pages, Paperback
Published: August 1, 1999 by Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780786706419
ASIN: 0786706414
Language: English

Characters More characters

Émilie Du Châtelet

Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet (17 December 1706, Paris – 10 September 1749, Lunéville) was a French mathematician, physicist, and author during the Age of Enlightenment. Her crowning achievement is considered to be her tr...
Voltaire

A French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writ...

About the author

nancy mitford

Nancy Mitford, styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years. She was born at 1 Graham Street (now Graham Place) in Belgravia, London, the eldest daughter of Lord Redesdale, and was brought up at Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire. She was the eldest of the six controversial Mitford sisters.

She is best remembered for her series of novels about upper-class life in England and France, particularly the four published after 1945; but she also wrote four well-received, well-researched popular biographies (of Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great). She was one of the noted Mitford sisters and the first to publicize the extraordinary family life of her very English and very eccentric family, giving rise to a "Mitford industry," which continues.