Lisbeth Fischer, known as Cousin Bette, is a poor and unmarried woman in Paris of the 1830s who is jealous of her cousin Adeline Hulot, a beautiful, rich woman. She forms a plan to bring down the family, using a Polish sculptor, Wenceslas Steinbock, and the seductive Valérie Marneffe. Honoré de Balzac, in this late novel of The Human Comedy, shows how desire and greed can ruin a household, and how revenge can consume the avenger.
Readers who like nineteenth-century realism and tales of social manipulation will find a rich, absorbing story. It is a good point of entry to Balzac's work.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1846
- Language
- EN
