Zénaide-Marie-Anne Fleuriot

A French novelist, b. at Saint-Brieuc, 12 September, 1829; d. at Paris, 18 December, 1890. She published her first novel, “Les souvenirs d’ une douairière”, in 1859, and its success led her to adopt the literary profession. Either under her real name or the pseudonym of “Anna Edianez de Saint-B”, she published a large number of novels, most of which were intended for women and girls. She was a constant contributor to “Le Journal de la jeunesse” and “La Bibliothèque rose”, whose aim is to provide young people with unobjectionable reading. Her novels are written in a simple, easy style which leaves the reader’s whole attention free to occupy itself with the interest of the story; they are Catholic in the true sense of the word, for they not only contain no unorthodox opinion, but present none of those evil suggestions with which many writers have won popularity and lucre. The following deserve to be specially mentioned: “La vie en Famille” (Paris, 1862); “La clef d’or” (Paris, 1870); “Le théâtre chez soi” (Paris, 1873); “Monsieur Nostradamus” (Paris, 1875); “Sans beauté” (Paris, 1889).