Claudine is the protagonist of the early novels of the French author Colette, published under the name of her husband 'Willy'. Colette was the pen name of the French Novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette ( January 28 1873 &ndash August 3

The Claudine novels are thought to be roughly autobiographical. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" It is also said that Willy forced Colette to write them by locking her in her room until she had produced the desired number of pages.

Whilst the stories were shocking in their time, this affectionate portrayal of a forthright and self-assured French girl who blossoms into a charismatic adult is nowadays more likely to be regarded as chastely sensual.

• Claudine à l'école (1900) - Claudine at school
• Claudine à Paris (1901) - Claudine in Paris
• Claudine en ménage (1902) - Claudine married
• Claudine s'en va (1903) - Claudine and Annie