Among the most autobiographical of Colette's works, these four novels are dominated by the child-woman Claudine, whose strength, humor, and zest for living make her seem almost a symbol for the life force.Janet Flanner described these books as "amazing writing on the almost girlish search for the absolute of happiness in physical love . . . recorded by a literary brain always wide awake on the pillow."

    Her exaggerated sense of her own importance and her desire for popularity are balanced by her warmheartedness, loyalty and bravery." -Booklist Books 1921, A Selection