In 1829, near Le Havre, Modeste Mignon, daughter of a ruined merchant gone abroad to rebuild his fortune, lives quietly under the watch of her blind mother and loyal family friends. Bored and romantic, she begins a secret correspondence with a celebrated poet, Canalis, and the replies come from his secretary, setting off a comedy of suitors, disguises and wounded vanity.
A lighter Balzac novel from The Human Comedy, for readers who enjoy epistolary romance with a satirical bite. Download the free EPUB.