"All too often French thinking loses body and complexity in English, but with Nicole Ward Jouve's criticism the effect is magically quite the reverse. Here she analyses the genesis of texts - their mothering and fathering - and dares to differ from those postmodernists who want to deconstruct gender itself. Female Genesis is a moving, controversial and revealing book which will give anyone interested in contemporary debates about writing and gender food for thought."Lorna Sage, University of East Anglia "This book is ... full of risk-taking and unexpected, often dazzling, turns and connections. It is both erudite and bold ... it is witty, self-aware and often ironic; sometimes it is lyrical and sensuous ... all of these essays ... are gems." Linda Anderson, University of Newcastle "In her scintillating new collection, Nicole Ward Jouve writes against the grain of much recent feminist thinking in Europe and North America, yet she does so on behalf of a new inclusive feminist awareness. Hers is one of those necessary critical voices. She speaks as a gendered autobiographical subject, yet addresses men as well as women and reminds her readers at every turn of their common humanity. A wise and beautiful book." Malcolm Bowie, All Souls College, Oxford