OK, so technically, not a woman reading but a woman who has read, or is about to. "The woman has been reading or is about to read her French novel. The novel is so identified by its notorious yellow covering into which controversial inexpensive French novels were placed at the time. The content of such novels is allegedly wicked and decadent." http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/150701476157/the-french-novel-also-known-as-the-mirror