Paris 2015: Cimetière parisien de Bagneux #6: Rachilde and Alfred Valette

'MME ALFRED VALETTE

"RACHILDE"

1860 – 1955'

The grave of Rachilde (née Marguerite Eymery) and her husband Alfred Valette, although time seems to have eroded Valette's name in his own right. Rachilde was brought up as a boy, she was an excellent horse rider and could use a pistol and a sword as an expert. By the age of eighteen she arrived in Paris with the intention of living by her pen. Her most famous book was Monsieur Vénus (1884), the French version of which can be read here. It brought her fame, and scandalised many.

As I said in the previous post, Valette founded Mercure de France.  Rachilde published an enormous number of books, whereas Valette (apart from Mercure) published just two novels.