Castanier, cashier of a Paris bank, is about to embezzle to keep his mistress Aquilina when the mysterious Englishman Melmoth offers him unlimited power in exchange for his soul. Balzac follows what such power is worth in the Paris of the Restoration, and how the bargain can be passed on.
Balzac’s witty sequel to Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer, part of the Comédie humaine. Download the free EPUB.