Fanchette's Pretty Little Foot

by Nicolas-Edme Rétif de La Bretonne, Richard Robinson (Translator)

Fanchetteʼs Pretty Little Foot (originally Le Pied de Fanchette in French), a novel by Restif de la Bretonneʼs, was first published in 1769. The story is a cross between the fairytale Cinderella, from 1697, and Samuel Richardsonʼs moral story (actually libertine novel) Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, from 1740. Now, Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper was originally a folk tale dating back at least 2000 years ago to a similar tale from Greece or Egypt, but it was made famous in the modern era (at least for Western audiences) with the 17th-century publication of French writer Charles Perraultʼs version of the tale, and more recently still by the 20th-century release of Walt Disneyʼs animated movie. But one does not have to be a scholar of French fairytales, Hollywood movies, or 18th-century English libertine novels to appreciate this simple, but delightful tale about a young and virtuous bourgeois girl, the daughter of a wealthy fabric merchant, whose parents die while sheʼs still a teenager, leaving her to fateʼs fortune in then-naughty Paris. She is pretty as a belle [sic] and even more virtuous, but it is her prettier little foot in especial that gets her into all kinds of trouble. Who would have thought that a girlʼs foot, embellished by a rich slipper, could be so attractive and seductive? Leave it to the French to capitalize on that. Or leave it to Restif de la Bretonne in this charming story, which is really a comedy, to bring it front and center. Interestingly, this novel was the first to give a name to a sensual preference called shoe fetishism, or “retifism” in French (after the authorʼs name, Restif).

Genres: Sexuality, France, Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1769

About the author

Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Restif (1734 – 1806), also known as Rétif de la Bretonne, was a French novelist. The term retifism for shoe fetishism was named after him. He has been described as both a social realist and a sexual fantasist in his writings.

Reviews

[Richard Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, I liked it. It's better than I thought it would be. It's not everyday one reads a novel from the 18th century. Nice dip into the past, when things were much simpler in life -- no computers, no cellphones, no cars, no aeroplanes -- just carriages for transportation, and letters for long or short distance communication, for instance. Although, the French financial and judicial systems seemed to have been rather well-developed and sophisticated at the time, based on some inconsequential indications in the novel.

Ends on a happy note. Which is good.

In all transparency, I translated it.

[Liberi Leggendo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questa è la storia della giovane e bella Fanchette, la protagonista, prematuramente divenuta orfana e affidata ad un tutore, e del suo bellissimo piede che la condurrà tra mille disavventure e peripezie.

Molti saranno i pretendenti della bella che cercheranno con ogni modo e mezzo di conquistarne cuore e piede e porterà in lei la consapevolezza che non sempre la bellezza è qualcosa di cui far vanto e che ciò richiede molta responsabilità.

Parlando di feticismo non si sa bene cosa aspettarsi da questo romanzo all'inizio della sua lettura, ma via via che si va avanti la simpatia dell'autore e la sua ironia si riflettono su tutto il racconto, l'atmosfera è la stessa in tutta la storia.

L'autore cerca di raccontare in maniera leggera un avvenimento che, per forza di cose, presenta dei lati non divertenti e scherzosi. Facendo ciò il romanzo diventa godibile in ogni momento, senza che però sfugga al lettore il significato di ogni scena e la particolarità dei personaggi che seppur scontati e già visti, riescono a innovarsi con semplicità...

Consiglio questo romanzo a chi ama i classici francesi e a chi vuole approcciarsi ad un tipo di lettura diverso dal solito.

[Richard Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a lot better than I had at first imagined. Like the first couple chapters best, but the rest of it stands up and is very solid. A bit like Cinderella means Pamela.

It's also now available in English translation, for those who can't read French: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[Lulu]

1769

French https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47133...