This article consists in a synchronic study of 1802 in terms of novel production and reception. It provides detailed statistics concerning the production of French novels, including translations and reprints. It pays particular attention to the relationship between masculine and feminine production. The study then focuses on the reception given in the press to this production, enabling it to bring to light the manner in which were evaluated those works that critics gave an account of. Finally, the study provides an analysis of a number of instances of differentiation, from the points of view both of authorial or editorial strategy and of readership ; the latter, through the play of two tendencies, sets apart a group of sentimental novels written by women.