Louise Bovie, full name Josine Natalie Louise Bovie (1810 – 11 January 1870), was a Belgian writer. She published a novella ''(un petit roman)'' called "La Perdrix" (''The Partridge'') under the pen name Marie Sweerts. She also wrote poetry and short stories, and contributed to the monthly literary journal ''Revue de belgique'', where she was eulogized as having "a distinguished spirit." Bovie was the elder sister of the painter and arts patron

Virginie Bovie Virginie Bovie (1821–1888), full name Joséphine-Louise-Virginie Bovie, was a Belgian painter and arts patron. In 1870, she was described as "well known", but she has fallen into neglect in the 20th and early 21st centuries and only seven of her ...

, with whom she toured Italy in 1855. Neither of the sisters ever married, and Louise eventually moved into Virginie's home on the rue du Trône in Ixelles, a suburb of Brussels, and they lived there together for many years. A third sister, Hortence, had married but was soon widowed.Anne-Marie ten Bokum, "Virginie Bovie, een vergeten Brusselse schilderes," ''Art&fact'' 24: ''Femmes et créations'' (2005
retrieved
26 July 2010. Louise Bovie died at Ixelles and is interred at Dilbeek.

''Contes posthumes''

''Contes posthumes'', a 339-page collection of Bovie's stories published posthumously within a year of her death, included '"La Perdrix'" along with "Raphaël," "L'éducation particulière," "Le missionaire," and "Souvenirs d'un caillou." The publication was illustrated by V. Bovie. The stories were mostly realistic, with some

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

influence in the choice and treatment of the subject matter, which included unjust imprisonment, revenge, suicide, incest, and spiritual trials. A critic for '' The Athenaeum'', writing in 1870, the year the ''Contes'' were published, remarked that Belgian writers of the day suffered from a lack of domestic interest, as

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

readers preferred literature from France: "what keeps down authors is the coldness of the public, and the silence or hostility of criticism. This is also the reason why authors often go on to the end of their lives without curing themselves of certain faults which no one has been at the pains to draw their attention to." He adduces Bovie as an example, noting the "strong powers" evidenced by her writing, as well as a "warm sensibility" that in the story "Raphaël", about the incestuous desire between a young painter and his mother, became excessive. As a whole, however, the collection was judged to be marred by "sad inequalities, failures and exaggerations." The review in what might be considered her "home" publication, ''Le revue belgique'', thought the collection earned her a worthy place among Belgian short-story writers, but was overall tepid even in its praise.Review by "V.M.," ''Revue de belgique'' 8 (1871), p. 33
online.
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References

External links

* "L'Éducation particulière," a story by Louise Bovie (in French) published posthumously, ''Revue de belgique'' (April 1870), pp. 260–28
online.

Bibliographical information
on ''Contes posthumes'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bovie, Louise Belgian poets in French Belgian women poets 1810 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Belgian women writers 19th-century Belgian writers Belgian women novelists Belgian women short story writers Belgian short story writers 19th-century Belgian novelists 19th-century Belgian poets

''Contes posthumes''

See also

References

External links