Colonel Victor d’Aiglemont is a tall, slender and very handsome man in his early thirties. When young Julie lays her eyes on Victor, she is fascinated by the charming man. Julie’s father, however, is not so thrilled about Victor – he thinks Julie has fallen in love with her own daydream. Julie ignores her father’s comments, and Victor and Julie end up marrying – but the marriage is not anything like Julie expected it to be.

Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a French writer. He was born in Tours, but moved to Paris when he was a teenager. The best known works of his include ‘Father Goriot’ and ‘Cousin Bette’. Balzac’s writing style is realistic, and he also wrote plays. Besides writing he worked as a journalist and critic.