Corinne was published in more than forty editions between 1807 and 1872. More recently, it has given rise to a fresh series of interpretations in the context of women's studies. The Novel's Seductions: Stael's Corinne in Critical Inquiry not only documents an extraordinary revival of interest in this work demonstrated by American academia, but provides teachers of literature as well as students with an introduction to the novel's problematics and to bibliographical sources.

From the essays written by both internationally known Staelians and younger scholars, the novel emerges as an ongoing communicative act, inviting a new generation of readers to reflect on the feminine condition. In order to capture the performative energy of Corinne as well as to indicate the directions in which Stael studies are evolving, the volume explores the transactional qualities of Stael's writing from various methodological and thematic perspectives.

The distinctive place of Stael's novel in literature and its disseminative powers are documented in Part III, "Genie at Large." From Corilla Olimpica to Marguerite Yourcenar, the critics depict affiliations among female writers striving for public recognition and explore the ideological/textual borrowings among Corinne and other classic works.