The French Lieutenant's Woman The French Lieutenant's Woman The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. It was his third published novel, after "The Collector" (1963) and "The Magus" (1965). The novel explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the former governess and independent woman with whom he falls in love. The novel builds on Fowles' authority in Victorian literature, both following and critiquing many of the conventions of period novels. Following publication, the library magazine "American Libraries," described the novel as one of the "Notable Books of 1969". Subsequent to
The French Lieutenant's Woman the function of the novel, saying Throughout the essay, Fowles describes multiple influences and issues important to the novel's development, including his debt to other authors such as Thomas Hardy. In the essay, he describes surprise that the female character Sarah had taken the primary role in the novel. Later Fowles described other influences shaping the characters development, noting that the characters and story of "The French Lieutenant's Woman" were loosely derived from Claire de Duras's 1823 novel "Ourika," which features a tragic affair between an African woman and French military man. Fowles later published a 1977 translation of "Ourika"