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Constance de Théis, later Princess Constance de Salm was born in Nantes in 1767, had made a name for herself as a poet by the age of 18. Living through the turbulent times of the French Revolution, her writings became more political and philosophical. The Revolution, which had brought great hope for a change in women’s condition, wound up turning into a disappointment that caused her to become an ardent defender of women’s rights, including to education. She died in Paris in 1845.
The critics of the time accused Constance de Salm, a brilliant essayist, of being devoid of sensitivity, in other words of thinking too much and lacking heart... She responded with this love story, 24 Heures d’une Femme Sensible, published in 1824, with its extremes of emotion. The the woman in question sees her lover leave with another woman after a concert. During a sleepless night and a day of anguish, she writes him forty-four letters. At first worried, the tone goes from jealousy to despair and madness in a downward spiral of passion.