Part of La Comédie Humaine, book 30
First published 1833
In the dreary town of Saumur, old Grandet hoards his wealth with ruthless devotion. His wife and daughter Eugénie live under his iron control, their existence dimmed by his single-minded pursuit of riches. Grandet watches over his gold coins and his only child with equal suspicion, allowing neither warmth nor freedom to enter their shadowed home. Everything changes when Eugénie's cousin Charles arrives from Paris. Young and charming, Charles awakens feelings in Eugénie that she has never known. Her newfound desires put her on a collision course with her father's tyrannical grip. As Eugénie discovers love and her own will, she must choose between obedience and passion. The battle between father and daughter escalates into a devastating conflict that will destroy lives and reveal the true price of greed. This early work in Balzac's great cycle captures the human wreckage left by society's obsession with accumulating fortune.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: father-daughter-conflict, forbidden-love
Setting: Saumur
Period: 19th-century
248 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics