Abstract: In 1804, aged 63, Isabelle de Charrière wrote of her career as an authoress and of the context in which she composed some of her novels. She mentions a direct link between her Lettres neuchâteloises (1784) and another epistolary novel by two women Historie van Mejuffrouw Sara Burgerhart (1782). This article illustrates the nature of the inspiration which must have been drawn from the Dutch novel and therefore tends to prove that you can continue to trust the 63 year-old woman’s affirmations.
