Cousin Bette - (Modern Library Classics) by Honoré de Balzac (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Bette is a wronged soul; and when her passion does break, it is, as Balzac says, sublime and terrifying," wrote V. S. Pritchett. A late masterpiece in Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, Cousin Bette is the story of a Vosges peasant who rebels against her scornful upper-class relatives, skillfully turning their selfish obsessions against them. The novel exemplifies what Henry James described as Balzac's "huge, all-compassing, all-desiring, all-devouring love of reality."

Review Quotes

"Raine's translations restore Balzac to his passionate and efficient outrage upon the expectations of fiction. This best of his novels is worthy to be 'ours'--and now it is." --Richard Howard

About the Author

Kathleen Raine, the renowned British translator, poet, critic, and editor, was recently awarded the distinguished title of Comman-deur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

Francine Prose's most recent novel, Blue Angel, was a 2000 National Book Award finalist. A contributing editor at Harper's magazine, she writes for many publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.