The Books Oracle

The Ball At Sceaux

by Honoré de Balzac · La Comédie Humaine series

A young aristocratic woman refuses every suitor brought before her, holding out for a match that meets her exacting standards. Pride, class anxiety, and the quiet violence of social expectation in Restoration France—Balzac's sharp eye on a woman trapped between the old order and her own illusions.

La Comédie Humaine in reading order

7. Albert Savarus — Honoré de Balzac
22. La Femme de Trente Ans — Honoré de Balzac
25. The Athiest's Mass — Honoré de Balzac
74. The Quest Of The Absolute — Honoré de Balzac
87. Seraphita — Honoré de Balzac
A Passion in the Desert — Honoré de Balzac
A Start in Life — Honoré de Balzac
Beatrix — Honoré de Balzac
Colonel Chabert — Ellen Marriage / Honoré de Balzac
Cousin Bette — Sylvia Raphael / David Bellos / Honoré de Balzac
Cousin Pons — Honoré de Balzac / Herbert J. Hunt
Eugénie Grandet — Honoré de Balzac
Gobseck — אונורה דה בלזאק / מירי ליטבק / ראובן מירן / אפרת ניר / Honoré de Balzac
La Piel De Zapa — Honoré de Balzac
Lost Illusions — Ellen Marriage / George Saintsbury / Honoré de Balzac
Maître Cornélius — Katharine Prescott Wormeley / Honoré de Balzac
Modeste Mignon — Katherine Prescott Wormeley / Honoré de Balzac
Pierrette — Honoré de Balzac
Sarrasine — Sophie Lewis / Honoré de Balzac
The Ball At Sceaux — Honoré de Balzac
The Chouans — Honoré de Balzac
The Elixir Of Life — Honoré de Balzac
The Girl with the Golden Eyes — Charlotte Mandell / Honoré de Balzac
The Mysterious Mansion — Honoré de Balzac
The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan — Honoré de Balzac / Katherine Prescott Wormeley
The Unknown Masterpiece — Richard Howard / Arthur C. Danto / Honoré de Balzac
A Daughter Of Eve — Honoré de Balzac
A Harlot High and Low — Rayner Heppenstall / Honoré de Balzac
A Murky Business — Honoré de Balzac / Herbert J. Hunt
Another Study Of Woman — Honoré de Balzac

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