Part of La Comédie Humaine, book 20
First published 2002
Calyste du Guénic, heir to ancient Breton nobility, lives quietly in Guérande until he encounters the brilliant writer Félicité des Touches. The young man becomes infatuated with this woman of letters, who finds herself torn between accepting his devotion and protecting him from heartbreak. Their relationship grows complicated when the glamorous Marquise de Rochefide arrives with her lover, the musician Conti. Known as Béatrix, the marquise once stole Conti from Félicité, leaving wounds that never fully healed. As these four lives intertwine, Calyste must navigate the treacherous waters of desire and social expectation. Félicité faces a painful choice between embracing one final chance at love or retreating into solitude. The story captures the struggles women faced in nineteenth century society, where passion and independence came at steep personal costs.
Genres: french-literature, historical-fiction, european-literature, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Guérande, France
Period: 19th Century
304 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Folio