Born to a wealthy Catholic family in Honfleur, Normandy, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus was a prolific poet and novelist who became a leading light in Paris society during the années folles (the ‘Crazy Years’ of the 1920s). Although she thought of herself primarily as a poet, she produced over seventy full-length novels during her career and these romantic sagas were distinctive for their evocative descriptions of the landscape and people of her native Normandy. Delarue-Mardrus wrote in a variety of genres, and was also a playwright and journalist, as well as a biographer, producing studies of figures as diverse as Oscar Wilde, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and William the Conqueror. Her talents were not restricted to literary pursuits…

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