The pains of being a woman in 17th century France spring more readily to the modern eye than the pleasures. This is an account of the public and private life of ladies - and women - in 17th century France from birth until death. Gibson describes a superficially civilized society, beset by social deprivation, ignorance and superstition, in which women were engaged alongside men in a struggle for sheer survival. She looks at women's fight against discriminatory laws, customs and prejudices and how women managed to come through the hardships and handicaps to leave their mark in such a way as to justify the verdict passed upon them by more than one of their male contemporaries: "capable of anything".