玛丽莲·弗伦奇（Marilyn French，1929~2009年）

玛丽莲·弗伦奇出生于布鲁克林，是一位工程师和百货商店店员的女儿。她从小热爱写作，十岁便开始创作诗歌和短篇小说。1950年，在霍夫斯特拉大学就读期间，玛丽莲结婚，开始兼职打工以支援丈夫就读法学院。受波伏瓦《第二性》影响，玛丽莲一直坚持创作，希望成为一名作家。她完成了在霍夫斯特拉大学的学业，获得哲学和英语文学学士学位以及英语硕士学位，成为一名英语老师。1964年，她考入哈佛大学，由于丈夫对其写作事业的反对，两人于1967年离婚。玛丽莲于1972年获得博士学位，并于1977年出版《醒来的女性》一书，一举成名。尽管由于暴露了很多尖锐的社会问题和性别歧视问题引发舆论争议，但本书仍在全球销出2000多万册，出版22种语言版本，成为现象级的话题之作。有读者表示，这本书中所写的，就是当时女性最真实的生活。

玛丽莲一生关注女性话题，其女儿遭遇强奸也成为她持续为女性权益发声的原因之一。《醒来的女性》大获成功之后，她又陆续出版有The Bleeding Heart、Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals、The War Against Women等书。

因其巨大的影响力，她的名字曾出现在著名流行乐团ABBA（阿巴合唱团）的歌词中。

A landmark in feminist literature, THE WOMEN'S ROOM is a biting social commentary of a world gone silently haywire. Written in the 1970s but with profound resonance today, this is a modern allegory that offers piercing insight into the social norms accepted blindly and revered so completely. 'Today's desperate housewives" eat your heart out! This is the original and still the best, a page-turner that makes you think. Essential reading' Kate Mosse 'They said this book would change lives - and it certainly changed mine' Jenni Murray 'Reading THE WOMEN'S ROOM was an intense and wonderful experience. It is in my DNA' Kirsty Wark 'THE WOMEN'S ROOM took the lid off a seething mass of women's frustrations, resentments and furies; it was about the need to change things from top to bottom; it was a declaration of independence' OBSERVER