Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was born in Tours, France, educated at the Collège de Vendôme, and studied law at the Sorbonne. His father wished him to become a lawyer, but he left Tours in 1819 to seek his fortune as an author in Paris. He wrote eighty-five novels in twenty years, but his life was one of frequent privation. In 1850, he married Countess Hanska, a rich Polish lady with whom he had corresponded for more than fifteen years. Five months later, Balzac died in Paris.
~~tag-text~~
Brothers Philippe and Joseph Bridau are completely unlike each other: Philippe, a once courageous soldier and Napoleon's former aide-de-camp, is their mother's favourite, while Joseph, a poor and aspiring artist, is the less favoured of the two. When thei... SEE MORE