A Cruel Enigma

"A Cruel Enigma" by Paul Bourget is a late 19th-century novel that pulls readers into the tangled lives of Hubert Liauran, Madame Castel, Madame Liauran, and Madame de Sauve as they wrestle with love, longing, and the hidden corners of the human heart. General Count Alexander Scilly watches as the two widows, Madame Castel and Madame Liauran, become consumed with worry over Hubert, the young man they both care for deeply. Hubert finds himself pulled in different directions, torn between his affection for the two women who raised him and his burning desire for the married Madame de Sauve. The story lays bare the complex web of relationships, the weight of society's expectations, and the inner battles that rage within each character, promising a tale filled with moral dilemmas and emotional turmoil.