This study looks at French literature from Stevenson’s perspective and at Stevenson from a French perspective. Shedding light on how Stevenson’s use of French contributes to his distinct style, and how and why the earliest French critics translated, disseminated and interpreted his books, it does so in context of the debates surrounding the development of the novel at the fin de siècle.Readers learn how the artistic debates taking place in France contributed to the evolution of Stevenson’s art, but also how Stevenson became a model of literary innovation for French authors and critics who were seeking to renew the French novel.