Most of all, I thank my similarly nomadic travelling companion, the other half of this Francophile academic couple. Finally, I thank my parents Dawn and John, brothers Neil and Robert and father-in-law Ron Hogarth for their support of my restlessness and ensuing absences. I am most grateful to Laurel Plapp and the editorial team at Peter Lang for assistance throughout the publication process. King Cornelius and Princess Angela of the Elephant and Castle were a fitting feline complement to my writing retreat. I should like to thank particularly Adalgisa Giorgio, who has influenced my ideas since I was eighteen years old. The seminar that she organised, in addition to the talks organised for me by the IMLR, were invaluable to me as I was nearing the end of this project.
I am indebted to Gill Rye at the IMLR’s Centre for Contemporary Women’s Writing for her support and for her model of ← vii | viii → commitment to our field of research. I gratefully acknowledge the resources made available to me during my stay. Much of this book was written in London, while I was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Modern Languages Research, part of the School of Advanced Study. Also on an Australian theme, I thank Liverpool University Press for granting me permission to include sections of ‘Deliberately Barren: The Rejection of Motherhood in Contemporary French Women’s Writing’, which appeared in 52.1 (2014) of the Australian Journal of French Studies. I thank the University of Adelaide for the research leave in which this book was completed and the Faculty of Arts for the research grants that enabled the preliminary field trips. Amy Hubbell’s companionship has been very precious to me, both in the US and in our new home.
Peter Poiana has been a model of kindness since my first day on campus and Ben McCann’s infectious enthusiasm and friendship always lift my spirits. Their generous, thoughtful mentoring has been a constant source of support in the years since. Jean Fornasiero and John West-Sooby made an enormous difference in my life by employing me at the University of Adelaide. The writing of this book began in earnest as I moved to Australia and found a warm welcome in my new home. I should like to thank my closest colleagues while in New York, Eloïse Brezault and Anne Schotter, for their camaraderie and support, both as I began the project and as I transitioned from one hemisphere to another.
I am grateful to the neighbourhood and its inhabitants for inspiration, encouragement and an inexhaustible supply of material. This book was conceived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, my home for seven years and the fabled birthplace of the babyccino and the yummy mummy. I hope that they have all felt my gratitude. This book is the result of a ten-year labour and many individuals have assisted in its maturation.
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