The crown jewel in a remarkable literary career, Cousin Bette is regarded by many critics to be Balzac's last great work before his death in 1850. A fine example of European realist fiction, the story recounts the attempt of a disgruntled housewife to bring about the misery and destruction of her entire extended family. Fans of Tolstoy's War and Peace will enjoy Cousin Bette.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-62012-299-0

A daughter inherits her father's miserliness, which stifles her relationship with her cousin, making love an unsatisfying experience. As with Balzac's other work, his characters in Eugenie Grandet are fully and realistically portrayed. Balzac began to conceive his great work The Human Comedy whilst writing this novel, and the characters herein are reworked in his comedy.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-62011-071-3

The short story Facino Cane has been categorized as both a "Philosophical Study" and a "Scene of Paris Life" in various editions of French writer Honore de Balzac's sprawling series The Human Comedy. The narrator is attending a wedding and takes an interest in one of the musicians performing at the event, an elderly blind man with a compellingly wizened visage. After being prompted, the musician, named Marco-Facino Cane, spills his surprising and tragic life story.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-343-1

This collection brings together two short stories, one from the father of French realism, Honore de Balzac, the other from Russian writer Alexander Amphiteatrof. Both of the tales are related to Napoleon in some way, examining the impact of the famed leader's exploits on the national cultures of the French and the Russians.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-504-6

An extract from Honore de Balzac's sweeping novel cycle The Human Comedy, Gobseck is a novella that recounts the social ascendancy of young Anastasie de Restaud. Born into a wealthy family, Anastasie marries into aristocracy, but soon grows weary of the arcane rituals of her new lifestyle—not to mention her lack of feelings toward her husband. Seeking passion, she makes several bold decisions and quickly finds herself on the road to ruin.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-339-4

Predating Edgar Allen Poe's remarkably similar story The Cask of Amontillado by more than a decade, Honore de Balzac's chilling tale La Grande Breteche centers on a mysterious manor that sits abandoned in a town in central France. When a physician becomes curious about the estate and begins to question locals about it, he gradually unfurls a horrifying secret.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-338-7

This richly drawn epistolary tale recounts the correspondence between two young women whose friendship evolves as they embark on marriage and motherhood. Although both have a distinctly different outlook, their shared observations and memories bring the beauty and difficulty of these experiences vividly to life.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-62011-827-6

Master of realism Honore de Balzac highlights his brilliant knack for character development in the short story Madame Firmiani. The story's plot is slight, dealing in large part with the mysterious identity of Madame Firmiani's husband. As always, where Balzac truly shines is in delving into the nuance of human behavior and personality.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-015-7

In this long story, part of the Philosophical Studies section of Honore de Balzac's epic masterwork The Human Comedy, the author takes the uncharacteristic step of alluding to a previously published novel, Charles Robert Maturin's 1820 work Melmoth the Wanderer. In Balzac's Melmoth Reconciled, Melmoth is a mysterious figure who comes to the aid of a desperate clerk who is on the brink of committing a crime.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-012-6

This novella is part of the Scenes from Private Life section of Honore de Balzac's sprawling story cycle The Human Comedy. Trapped in a maddeningly frustrating love triangle and unable to express his true feelings to his beloved, protagonist Paz invents an imaginary mistress to use as an excuse for his lovesickness and increasing alienation from his group of friends.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-007-2

This diptych is part of Honore de Balzac's epic masterpiece, The Human Comedy. It comprises two stories, Cousin Betty and Cousin Pons, each of which delve deeply into complicated family dynamics and the long-lasting impact of seemingly trivial conflicts.
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-63421-005-8

Hardened criminal Jacques Collin has been hiding under the guise of a false identity in order to escape the long arm of the law. In the novel Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, however, Collin's deceptions seem finally to have caught up with him. Will he be able to pull off the labyrinthine scheme cooked up to secure his freedom?
Standort: Overdrive Onleihbibliothek
ISBN: 978-1-62013-971-4