
Cousin Betty
'Cousin Betty ' Summary
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.") At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the attentions of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. Mme. Hulot rejects Crevel's advances. The Baron has so completely lavished money on Josépha that he has borrowed heavily from his Uncle Johann – and, unable to repay the money, the Baron instead arranges a War Department post in Algeria for Johann, with instructions that Johann will be in a situation in that job to embezzle the borrowed money. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
FrenchPublished In
1846Authors

Honoré de Balzac
France
Honoré de was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus....
Books by Honoré de BalzacDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Dwellers in the Hills by Melville Davisson Post
In the rugged mountains of West Virginia, two cattlemen, Ward and Woodford, find themselves locked in a bitter rivalry. When Ward is laid up after a...

Short Line War by Henry Kitchell Webster
The Short Line War follows the story of Jim Weeks, a successful businessman who finds himself caught in a conflict between two competing railroad comp...

Wild Pastures by Winthrop Packard
It takes the reader on a journey through the American West. Published in 1930, the book is a vivid and descriptive account of Packard's experiences tr...

Little Country Girl by Susan Coolidge
Candace is spending the summer with her wealthy cousins in the city, and she is struggling to adjust to their different lifestyle. She misses her simp...

Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley
Point Counter Point is an intellectually provocative and satirical novel that explores the complexities of love, relationships, and society. Through t...

What Diantha Did by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Diantha Bell is a normal young woman desiring marriage and a home, but also a challenging career in a new territory which raises many eyebrows and set...

Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit is a sprawling social satire that critiques Victorian society's obsession with wealth and its impact on family relationships. The st...

Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Ten-year-old Emily Starr is an orphan who moves in with her aunts in the small town of New Moon. As she navigates the challenges and joys of preteen l...

Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Quicksand is a 1928 novel by Nella Larsen, a writer of the Harlem Renaissance. It focuses on Helga Crane, a mixed-race woman who is a schoolteacher in...

Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady - Volume 8 by Samuel Richardson
In the tumultuous eighth volume of Samuel Richardson's epistolary masterpiece, "Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady," the tragic tale of...
Reviews for Cousin Betty
No reviews posted or approved, yet...