Before children's stories came to exemplify the French fairy tale, early modern audiences read the works of women writers known as conteuses. From the late seventeenth century through the Revolution, the conteuses published rich, complex tales that were popular in literary salons and elite courtly settings.

"A collection of fairy tales published by women in seventeenth-century France [exploring] themes of love, marriage, sexuality, gender relations, and female education, and literacy. Includes works by Catherine Bernard, Catherine Durand, Charlotte-Rose de Caumont, Marie-Jeanne L'hâeritier, and Henriette-Julie de Castelnau, Countess of Murat, with brief biographies of the authors"--