The Amorous Restoration
Love, Sex, and Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century France
Andrew J. Counter
Reviews and Awards
Co-winner of the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for French and Francophone Studies (2016)
"The Amorous Restoration combines lucid analysis with provocative-often juicy-subject matter. It is a welcome contribution to the field of nineteenth-century French studies, which too often glosses over, or hurries past, its supposedly-retrograde first decade-and-a-half. As Counter convincingly demonstrates, the Restorationâs very contradictions and tensions, played out across its literary productions, make for compelling reading." --French Review
"In The Amorous Restoration: Love, Sex, and Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century France Counter reprises his demonstrated excellence in research and writing. A springboard for intriguing notions regarding the political and sexual intersections of Restoration culture and their expression in narratives of the period, the book is a joy to read: exceptional and often humorous, drawing on an eclectic array of sources, including libelles, pamphlets, journalistic articles, medical treatises, memoires, and correspondences alongside a refreshing look at the standard literary corpus of the period plus several less common titles. The Amorous Restoration is a must read. ... The Amorous Restoration: Love, Sex, and Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century France is an indispensable resource for all nineteenth-century French scholars and for many cultural historians of early nineteenth-century France." --David A. Powell, Nineteenth-Century French Studies
"The Amorous Restoration is an exceptionally well-documented resource for literary scholars and historians alike in its delineation of the complex intersection of love and politics during the Restoration. Moreover, Counter's study performs what he describes as characteristic of the Restoration, not only in terms of perpetuating gossip, as he jests, but also in terms of the bookâs fascinating convergence of a diverse wealth of materials." -- Anne Marcoline (University of Houston-Clear Lake), European Romantic Review
"This is an impressive and meticulously researched historical study of the intersections of sexuality and politics during the Restoration ... this thoughtful study will significantly enrich understandings of both this period and the wider literary culture of nineteenth-century France." --Miranda Gill, French Studies