Born in 1877, Marcel Schwob, "nothing less than the father of a different kind of poetry"—as Apollinaire described him—is one of the most prominent representatives of French Symbolism. A man of great erudition and an admirer of Shakespeare, whose plays "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" he translated into admirable versions, he considered his fellow countryman François Villon, the beggar poet, his favorite and archetype. This predilection explains the affection for the humble and the downtrodden that appears in his work.

In 1890, he met a young prostitute, Louise, petite and fragile, with whom he fell passionately in love. Three years later, ravaged by poverty and tuberculosis, Louise died, leaving Schwob inconsolable. He had striven to save her, caring for her with exquisite tenderness. "Reintegrated into his solitude and despair," he then wrote The Book of Monelle (1894), a true prose poem, largely inspired by the memory of Louise, in which he furtively appears under the guise of Monelle and her sisters.

"The Book of Monelle is Marcel Schwob's masterpiece because it is a story of poverty and because he participates in it..."