Modeste Mignon is a young woman living with her blind mother and watched over by her absent father's majordomo and wife. They're determined to keep her from men until her father returns from his long sea voyage. She's by all appearances the perfect daughter, but her mother believes Modeste has a secret: she's in love! The attempts to determine whether this is true, and the aftermath, is Balzac at his wittiest. But even though she may seem like the ideal daughter, Modeste is somewhat subversive, at odds with the prevailing ideas of the time of how an ingenue should behave.
Modeste Mignon, written in 1844, is one of Balzac's last additions to the Human Comedy.
Perfect for readers who love witty French literature and coming-of-age stories with romantic intrigue, this Balzac masterpiece combines sharp social observation with delightful humor. If you enjoy classic European fiction that explores the complexities of young love against the backdrop of 19th-century society, Modeste Mignon delivers both entertainment and literary brilliance in true Balzacian style.
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