# The Most Scandalous Author in 19th-Century France

An episode of [Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1612090432), 27 Feb 2026, 58 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/betwixt-the-sheets/e/699eddfb7156d50874fcbc1b/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=39Cuti-rdSa9K6BeF4IeGkvzCTASuwGiUelUX0N00bM

By the age of 30, George Sand's literary career was soaring. She was internationally renowned, outselling Victor Hugo in English. So why is she now better known for wearing mens clothes and having a relationship with Chopin? In this episode, Kate is joined once again by Fiona Sampson to meet the woman behind the name. Who was Aurore Dupin? Why did she dress in men's clothes? And why have her literary achievements been overwritten in the history books by her personal life? Fiona's book on this is 'Becoming George: The invention of George Sand'. This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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