Le Lys dans la vallée
Encyclopedia
Le Lys dans la Vallée 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 Felix 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 chateau Azay-le-Rideau
, which can still be visited today.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
(1799–1850). It concerns the affection — emotionally vibrant but never consummated — between Felix de Vandenesse and Henriette de Mortsauf. It is part of his series of novels (or Roman-fleuve) known as La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
(The Human Comedy), which parodies and depicts French society in the period of the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
and the July Monarchy
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
(1815–1848). In his novel he also mentions the chateau Azay-le-Rideau
Azay-le-Rideau
Azay-le-Rideau is a commune of the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.-Château:The château of Azay-le-Rideau was built from 1515 to 1527, one of the earliest French Renaissance châteaux...
, which can still be visited today.
Inspiration
Henriette de Mortsauf was modelled on Balzac's close friend Laure Antoinette de Berny (née Hinner), a woman 22-years his senior who greatly encouraged his early career. Mme de Berny died shortly after reading the completed novel — in which Henriette also dies.External links
Le Lys dans la vallée, audio version