The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1969
postmodern historical fiction novel by
John Fowles. It was his third published novel, after
The Collector (1963) and
The Magus (1965). The novel explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist, Charles Smithson, and the former governess and independent woman, Sarah Woodruff, with whom he falls in love. The novel builds on Fowles' authority in Victorian literature, both following and critiquing many of the conventions of period novels.