Countess Marie de Vandenesse, bored out of her mind in a marriage to a good man, decides to adopt an up-and-coming young playwright, Raoul Nathan, as her lover. Mistakenly believing his fortune is made, Nathan quickly finds himself wading into deep waters...

One of Balzac's most delightful and happy-go-lucky tales, this is certainly a recommended rainy day read. Written by the French author who, along with Flaubert, is widely regarded to be one of the founding fathers of realism in European fiction.

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright, most famous for his collection of novels and plays, collectively called 'The Human Comedy'. His detailed observation of humanity and realistic depiction of society makes him one of the earliest representatives of realism in Europe. He was a master-creator of complex characters that often found themselves in ambiguous moral dilemmas.