"Damned Women is an inspiring and enlightening book, a must for anyone interested in the challenging and intriguing role lesbians play as a symbol through which women, as a gender, are culturally feared, despised, and valued. It is a gripping account of the origin of the lesbian as a literary character in French fiction since Diderot's La Religieuse and analyses brilliantly the mix of cliche, censorship, fascination, and desire that go into the creation of lesbian characters." Nicole Brossard