by André Léo was first published as a serial novel under the signature Léo in 1860 in a short-lived journal entitled
L’Espérance: Journal international quotidien(Geneva). Written while the author was living in exile in Switzerland, the novel contains both nostalgic descriptions of the fertile landscape and rich cultural traditions of her native Poitou and acerbic criticism of the fossilized social order of its inhabitants. The novel was published as an independent volume by Hachette two years later following André Léo’s return to France in 1861.
The “scandalous marriage” of the title is generally thought to refer to the marriage between the protagonist, Lucie Bertin, a young impoverished bourgeoise, and her neighbor Michel, a peasant who works as a day
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Citation: Beach, Cecilia. "Un mariage scandaleux". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 January 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35747, accessed 23 November 2024.]
