Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife

Adolphe Belot (1829-90) was born in Guadeloupe, studied and practiced law in France, and became a playwright and novelist in Paris. The money he made from his many potboilers supported his extravagant lifestyle. Christopher Rivers is professor of French at Mount Holyoke College. He is author of Face Value: Physiognomical Thought and the Legible Body in Marivaux, Lavater, Balzac, Gautier, and Zola.