Françoise Mallet-Joris

Françoise Mallet-Joris (6 July 1930 – 13 August 2016), the pen name of Françoise Lilar, was a Belgian author. She was a member of the Prix Femina committee from 1969 to 1971 and was appointed to the Académie Goncourt from November 1971 to 2011.

Early life Françoise-Eugenie-Julienne Lilar was born on 6 July 1930 in Antwerp. She was the first child of writer Suzanne Lilar (first woman admitted to the Antwerp Bar) and Albert Lilar, Belgian Minister of Justice and Minister of State. Françoise was also the older sister of Marie Fredericq-Lilar, an art historian of the 18th century. The household was French-speaking, but Françoise picked up Flemish from a maid. The same year, Lilar gave birth to their son, Daniel Amadou. Robert Amadou was French, and through him, Lilar gained French citizenship. After obtaining that, Lilar and Amadou divorced.

Career Lilar began her literary career with the publication of Le rempart des Béguines in 1951. She published under the name Françoise Mallet to avoid embarrassing her family, due to the novel's scandalous (lesbian) content. Later on in her career, however, she altered her penname to Françoise Mallet-Joris so as not to be confused with Robert Mallet.

Her poem "Je veux pleurer comme Soraya" ("I Want to Cry Like Soraya") was inspired by the divorce of Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary from Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1958. The poem was adapted into a hit pop song, composed and sung by Marie-Paule Belle, released in 1995.

Her last novel, Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous, was published in 2007.

Themes Mallet-Joris' novels frequently deal with interpersonal relationships and social class in France and Belgium. Often, characters must deal with disappointment as they realize they have unrealistic expectations. She also depicts social climbers and deceitful characters.

In Allegra (1976) Mallet-Joris tackled the themes of racism and feminism in France.

She has also written works of non-fiction, like The Uncompromising Heart: A Life of Marie Mancini, Louis XIV's First Love in 1964, and she has written essays about her philosophy of life and writing in Lettre à moi-même (A Letter to Myself) in 1963 and La Maison de papier (The Paper House) in 1970.

Literary awards Lilar won the "Librarians' Prize" (Prix des bibliothécaires) in 1958 for House of Lies (in French, the title was Les mensonges which means simply "Lies"), the Femina Prize in 1958 for Café Céleste (in French, it was called L'empire céleste which means "Heavenly Empire" or "Celestial Empire", a title that is highly ironic) and the Monaco Prize in 1964 for her biography of Marie Mancini.

Personal life and death In 1952, she was married to French historian Alain Joxe, but only for two years. Lilar referred to it as a summer romance.

Selected works 1951: Le rempart des Béguines (2006 translation by Herma Briffault as The Illusionist, published by Cleis Press with introduction by Terry Castle. Previous translations had been titled Into the Labyrinth or The Loving and the Daring 1955: La chambre rouge (The Red Room) 1958: Cordélia (a collection of short stories); 1966: Les signes et les prodiges (Signs and Wonders) 1968: Trois âges de la nuit (The Witches) 1970: La Maison de papier (The Paper House) 1973: Le jeu du souterrain (The Underground Game) 1976: Allegra 1978: Jeanne Guyon (a biography) 1980: Dickie-Roi (miniserie : Dickie-roi) 1985: Le rire de Laura (Laura's Laugh) 1990: Adriana Sposa 1993: Divine 1993: Les Larmes