The name of Rachilde has long been associated with those of minor decadent writers and symbolists of the last two decades of the nineteenth century. She is also known for her work with the Mercure de France, one of the foremost literary journals, which she cofounded with her husband, Alfred Vallette, and to which she regularly contributed reviews of fiction, as well as her own original work. Her name has also been linked to that of the writer Alfred Jarry, one of her closest friends, whom she supported financially and emotionally in a variety of ways. Although she was immensely successful at the beginning of her career, her reputation has since been relegated to that of "supporting role" status, and there has been little attempt until recently to assess her literary career in any serious fashion. Her oeuvre is considerable, however, and in addition to novels she wrote plays, literary criticism, memoirs, and poetry.
