Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.
The Firm of Nucingen
In the dazzling yet corrupt world of Parisian finance, a young man risks everything for wealth and love, becoming entangled with a powerful baron and his wife where desires for social status clash with moral boundaries.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Duchesse of Langeais
In a world of societal expectations, a love rekindled in a secluded convent forces a general and a nun that was once a duchess to confront their past desires and present realities.
By Honoré de Balzac
Eve and David
A couple's dreams of success in printing are threatened by family ambition and financial struggles.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Napoleon of the People
Witness the rise and fall of a legendary leader through the eyes of a loyal soldier, revealing a tale of ambition, devotion, and the relentless march of history.
By Honoré de Balzac
Adieu
In post-Napoleonic France, a devoted colonel confronts the heartbreaking madness of his lost love, pushing the boundaries of affection and desperation to reignite a past consumed by war.
By Honoré de Balzac
Louis Lambert
A brilliant young mind fights to reconcile his extraordinary gifts with a world that struggles to understand them, leading him down a path of philosophical exploration and personal turmoil.
By Honoré de Balzac
Sons of the Soil
Amidst a landscape of beauty and tension, a struggle for land and power erupts between landowners and peasants, revealing a world of deception and survival.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Physiology of Marriage, Complete
Prepare to question everything you thought you knew about wedded bliss, as this text dissects relationships through witty satire of early 19th-century marital expectations.
By Honoré de Balzac
Melmoth Reconciled
In the dim alleys of Parisian finance, a troubled cashier makes a dangerous deal with a mysterious stranger, trading his morality for a chance to escape his debts.
By Honoré de Balzac
Droll Stories — Complete Collected from the Abbeys of Touraine
In a vibrant and lavish 16th-century France, experience humorous and scandalous stories of love, lust, and morality.
By Honoré de Balzac
Ursula
In a small town, a family turns on each other when a rich uncle's unexpected religious awakening threatens their inheritance, all because of a young girl.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Purse
Amidst poverty and societal expectations, a young painter's world is turned upside down when he discovers his missing money was secretly replaced by the woman he loves, leading to a revelation of sacrifice and devotion.
By Honoré de Balzac
A Street of Paris and Its Inhabitant
** In old Paris, a distracted professor, guided by his watchful servant, faces the everyday chaos he overlooks in his scientific pursuits.
By Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
In a world of art and ambition, a young painter seeks inspiration from a reclusive master, unaware of the sacrifices that lie ahead.
By Honoré de Balzac
Domestic Peace
Amidst a whirlwind of lavish parties and hidden affairs in Napoleonic France, a countess must navigate treacherous social waters to discover the true cost of love and loyalty.
By Honoré de Balzac
Petty Troubles of Married Life, Complete
Follow a couple as they navigate the shift from romance to the realities of marriage, uncovering humor and heartbreak in their domestic life.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Lily of the Valley
In a world divided by class and crushed by unreciprocated affection, one man searches for solace in the arms of a woman he can never truly have.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Hated Son
Amidst the chaos of civil war and a tyrannical husband, a mother confronts her deepest fears as she fights to protect her unborn child from a dark fate.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Vicar of Tours
In a provincial town, a priest's simple dreams become entangled in a web of jealousy and ambition, with his resentful landlady holding the strings.
By Honoré de Balzac
The Physiology of Marriage, Part 1
Get ready to question everything you thought you knew about "I do," as societal expectations and hidden betrayals threaten to unravel the very fabric of matrimony.
By Honoré de Balzac