French novels such as Madame Bovary and The Stranger are staples of high school and college literature courses. This new companion provides encyclopedic coverage of the French novel from its origins in the 16th century through the present day, with an emphasis on novels most commonly studied in high school and college courses in world literature and in French culture and civilization. Written in a clear, accessible style, this is the only reference book of its kind to analyze the genre as a whole. A detailed introduction surveys the history of the French novel and discusses emerging trends. More than 550 in-depth entries, ranging from 300 to 2,500 words, cover novelists including Dumas, Voltaire, Flaubert, Proust, Camus, and Sartre, and novels such as The Three Musketeers, Candide, Les Miserables, Remembrance of Things Past, and The Plague. The entries include bibliographies to guide further research; author biographies; synopses and analyses of major novels; genres and literary movements, including courtly love, dada, surrealism, and existentialism; historical events that have influenced French novelists, including the French Revolution, fascism, and the Old Regime.