Beskrivelse
Over his productive years, Balzac created the Human Comedy, which like the Chinese scrolls of long ago, shows life in the France of his day in all its detail. Each book making up the whole portrays a particular part of society, its mores, customs, styles, beliefs, and expectations, without failing to provide readers with a great story. Balzac never hesitated to supply us with great descriptions of clothing, architecture, natural beauty, or witty conversation. The present volume is no exception. Though the overall subject is the depth of political intrigue in a rapidly-changing, politically unstable society, you will also find romance and adventure. If too many names—many of actual figures in the French history of the early 1800s—put you in a daze, persist, because this is a great novel with many levels of meaning. A noble woman, in love with twin brothers of the same class who have been exiled, gets involved in a plot to assassinate Napoleon. The intrigue goes way beyond this plot and involves property and class. A loyal employee helps the noblewoman, along with his wife and son. What happens? Who is guilty? Who is a patriot and who a traitor? To what depth did all this go? Is there any dirty police work involved? Does anyone pay the ultimate price? It is a short novel with many sudden twists and turns, secret hideouts, police raids, letters that must be burned and more.
