She started writing seriously in Paris. She wroteThe Making of Americans from 1906 to 1911. It was the long story of an American family. By 1909 she wroteThree Lives, stories about three women. In 1912 she wroteTender Buttons, a group ofprose poems about ordinary things. In this book Stein uses the English language in a way that reminds some people of what Picasso and others were doing with theircubist painting.[2][3]
Stein met and fell in love withAlice B. Toklas in 1907. When brother Leo moved from Rue de Fleurus in 1910, Stein and Toklas began living together. They were companions for life. DuringWorld War I, from 1916, they drove around southern France bringing supplies tohospitals.[2][3]
In 1933 she publishedThe Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. It was easier to read than most of her other books. It became very popular and she became famous. In 1934 and 1935, she visited America with Toklas and gavelectures.[3]
DuringWorld War II, Stein and Toklas stayed in the south of France under theVichy government. "Even though they wereJewish,lesbian, American, and collectors ofmodern art," they were not bothered by theNazi-supported government.[3][5]
