La Rabouilleuse [Naxos] - Honor de Balzac

Honor de Balzac

Public domain

Category: General Fiction

Narrator: Bill Homewood

Tags: General Fiction, Classic, Adults, Literature

Brothers Philippe and Joseph Bridau are completely unalike: Philippe, braggart and soldier, formerly aide-de-camp to Napoleon, is their mother Agathes favorite; Joseph, a poor and aspiring artist, is raised in his brothers shadow. When Agathe is reduced to poverty and Philippe accrues gambling debts, the family join forces to focus their attentions on Agathes brother, Jean-Jacques Rouget, heir to the family fortune. The struggle for his inheritance pits the family against Rougets beautiful maid Flore (La Rabouilleuse), the apple of her masters eye, and her lover, the crafty and manipulative Maxence., Will the greedy Philippes efforts save the family, or prove to be their undoing? Will the talented Joseph achieve the acclaim he deserves in the salons of Paris? All is revealed in the thrilling and compassionate denouement of this wonderful book. Also known as The Black Sheep and The Two Brothers, La Rabouilleuse is one of the Scenes de la vie de province in Balzacs La Comedie humaine.