Becoming George: The Invention of George Sand

'Sand seems as alive as if she had just walked out of the room . . . quietly witty . . . fascinating' The Times'Thought-provoking . . . written with energy, passion and commitment to its fascinating subject' Literary ReviewMy friends will respect me, I hope, just as much under my jacket as under my dress . . . So take me for a man or a woman as you wish. By the age of thirty, the novelist who had been born Aurore Dupin in 1804 had become the internationally renowned George Sand.In English, her daring literary experiments were out-selling even Victor Hugo.But the legend of Sand herself scandalised Paris. Not only prodigiously talented but cigar-smoking, cross-dressing and promiscuous, she seemed to break all the rules society set for women. What can we learn from the way she lived? Was her iconoclasm simply an act of courage, a declaration of absolute autonomy? Or did her emotional and creative relationships with many of the leading figures of her day - from Fryderyk Chopin to Gustave F