Book excerpt: Explains why novels about the experience of women written by men should be characterized as novels of female adultery, how the form rose in Continental Europe but failed to appear in Britain, and how it developed in France from the tradition of the libertine text and the Romantic confession during a period of political reaction and bourgeois consolidation. Also considers examples from Russian, Denmark, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. Combines textual analysis with comparative and historical perspectives to explore how the genre functioned in the different national traditions and ideologies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR