The problem, with sacred monsters such as Colette, who have embraced a thousand lives in their existence, is that they can be associated with several “mythical couples” at the same time. So with the author of Sido et du Blé enherbe : we could have told about his strong links with Henry de Jouvenel or Missy, not to mention the many conquests. But Henry Gauthier-Villars, says Willy, was undoubtedly the most emblematic of his spouses, and the first.
The one who was not yet called Colette but Gabrielle was born on January 28, 1873 in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, a pretty little town in Yonne, in Burgundy. Colette owes a lot to her mother, Sidonie (whose first name she also bears). Between mother and daughter, the relationship is fusional. The novelist will tell it later: Sido trained Colette in the freedom to think and to develop her independence of mind, not to mention the love of literature. "My mother was the main character of my whole life," wrote Colette, adding that she was
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