A Marriage Settlement

Name: A Marriage Settlement
Author: Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac, translated by Clara Bell

free · 50,245 words · ~3 h read · first published 1835

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More by Honoré de Balzac

A Start in Life
You get a sharp, slightly comic lesson in how vanity and bad judgment can shape a young man’s life, starting with a stagecoach full of passengers trading embellished stories. Oscar Husson is painfully believable, and Balzac is very good on the gap between wanting to seem impressive and actually earning your way.
Eugénie Grandet
Old Grandet counting his gold while his daughter quietly gives hers away to a cousin she loves is the whole tragedy in miniature, and Balzac makes you feel every sou. It's small-town, slow, and sad in a way that stays with you, so don't expect fireworks.
Modeste Mignon
You’d enjoy this if you like romantic novels that keep questioning romance: Modeste’s letters to the poet Canalis are tender, clever, and tangled up with literary vanity, while her father’s ruined fortunes add real pressure. It’s talky and socially observant, with Balzac gently exposing how people perform love before they understand it.