“The enthusiasm that runs throughout Nouvelles Femmes transcends any agenda, restoring to these great films some of the freshness and excitement they created on first release.”
            —The Wall Street Journal  (in Best of Summer Reading)

“Engaging, well-researched cultural history.... Film historian Knudson looks at French cinema, with a focus on female actors, writers, and directors who shaped, and were shaped by, the artistic revolution known as the New Wave…. In the 1950s, influenced by Hollywood movies that featured feisty, strong-willed women, New Wave directors created movies that reflected the tensions and realities of women’s lives. Some New Wave films introduced young free spirits rejecting social strictures; others, multifaceted, mature women facing the complexities of their lives…. Drawing liberally on interviews, Knudson allows her large cast of characters to speak candidly and perceptively about their lives and work.”

―Kirkus Reviews