"The Sprites of Kernosy Castle (1710) by the Countess Henriette-Julie de Murat illuminates the history of the novel from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth century and Murat’s role as a transitional figure who, as she evolves, moves away from the marvelous and from earlier models of the novel. By undermining the marvelous—the sprites are in reality noblemen—and by situating the action in the author’s present, rather than in the sixteenth century or earlier as had been typical, Murat challenges both the genre of the fairy tale, in which she had once engaged, and that of the novel. The introduction provides valuable context—the history of leisure, the history of theater as a part of aristocratic life—and crucial information about Murat’s life and her contributions to the development of the novel."

Anne E. Duggan, Professor of French, Classical & Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Wayne State University