Le Lys dans la vallée
 Image from Le Lys dans la Vallée | |
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Édouard Toudouze |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Series | La Comédie humaine |
| Publisher | Edmond Werdet |
Publication date | 1835 |
| Preceded by | Le Curé de village |
| Followed by | La Peau de chagrin |
Le Lys dans la Vallée (English: The Lily of the Valley) is an 1835 novel about love and society by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). It concerns the affection — emotionally vibrant but never consummated — between Félix de Vandenesse and Henriette de Mortsauf. It is part of his series of novels (or Roman-fleuve) known as La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), which parodies and depicts French society in the period of the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy (1815–1848). In his novel he also mentions the château Azay-le-Rideau, which can still be visited today.
Inspiration[]
Henriette de Mortsauf was modelled on Balzac's close friend (née Hinner), a woman 22 years his senior who greatly encouraged his early career.[1] Mme. de Berny died shortly after reading the completed novel[2] — in which Henriette also dies.
References[]
External links[]
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- (in French) Le Lys dans la vallée, audio version
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- 1835 French novels
- Books of La Comédie humaine
- Novels by Honoré de Balzac
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