Realism in Samuel Richardson And the Abbe Prevost

In ten essays, Frail (French and English, Centenary College of New Jersey) identifies a connection between British writer Richardson (1689-1761) and French writer abbé Prévost (1697-1763) in the contexts of realism and literary relations between England and France that were cultivated by interest in both countries in travel books, memoir novels, and other types of adaptations that surfaced as anecdotal fiction–especially the epistolary novel–began to push against political discourses and philosophical tracts. He examines Richardson’s three novels, and Prévost’s translations of the History of Sir Charles Grandison and Frances Sheridan’s Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)