François-René de Chateaubriand was the outstanding French literary figure of the early nineteenth century. He can only loosely be attached to the history of the novel, but he did produce two famous romances, Atala, ou les amours de deux sauvages dans le desert (1801; translated as Atala, or The Love and Constancy of Two Savages in the Desert, 1802) and René ou les effets de la passion (1805; translated as René, 1813). Often called novels, they are in reality short tales or novellas. A third, less well known romance, Les Aventures du dernier Abencéage (1826; translated as The Last of the Abencerages, 1850), may also be termed a novel, as may Les Natchez (1826; translated as The Natchez: An Indian Tale, 1827), which is part historical prose epic and part novel.

Whether Chateaubriand possessed something of the transcendent ability that one associates with genius is a matter for debate...