I argue that Sophie Cottin's 1799 novel of adultery, Claire d'Albe, rather than strictly being a sentimental novel, is a critique of the ineffectiveness of the recently enacted revolutionary laws of rape and divorce.  Reading the novel in this way explains the troubling rape or seduction scene in the novel and the duplicitous behavior of Claire's domineering husband and suggests that Cottin's purpose in writing this novel may have been more politically motivated than previously assumed.