by Honoré de Balzac (Author)
Set in mid-19th-century Paris, Cousin Bette tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family. Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men. One of these is Baron Hector Hulot, husband to Bette's cousin Adeline. He sacrifices his family's fortune and good name to please Valérie, who eventually leaves him for a tradesman.
Cousin Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. He produced the entire novel in two months in order to prove himself as the most capable writer in France. The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. He produced an average of eight pages each day but was struck by the unexpected enormity of the story as it evolved. The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.
This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorian-inspired dust jacket.