Anne Desclos

Anne Desclos (23 September 1907 – 27 April 1998) was a French journalist and novelist who wrote under the pseudonyms Dominique Aury and Pauline Réage.

Born in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Desclos began her career as a journalist at Paris-Soir. In 1946, she joined the prestigious publishing house Gallimard, where she became the first woman to join their reading committee. She remained with Gallimard for the rest of her career, contributing significantly to French literature.

Desclos is best known for her erotic novel Story of O (1954), which she wrote as Pauline Réage. The novel, a tale of love, submission, and dominance, was a sensation upon its publication and remains a classic of erotic literature. Desclos never publicly admitted authorship of the novel until a 1994 interview with The New Yorker, forty years after the book was first published.

Desclos's other works include A Girl in Love (1958) and Retour à Roissy (1969), a sequel to Story of O. As Dominique Aury, she was a prolific translator and critic, contributing to literary journals such as La Nouvelle Revue Française.

Desclos was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1975 for her contributions to French literature. She died in 1998 in Paris, France.