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.