Cousin Bette, Honor de Balzac
Cousin Bette, Honor de Balzac
1 Rating(s)
List: $27.95 | Sale: $19.57
Club: $13.97

Cousin Bette

Author: Honor de Balzac

Narrator: Johanna Ward

Unabridged: 16 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2006

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

Bette is Lisbeth Fischer, an excruciatingly cunning poor relation who both depends upon and nurses a terrible grudge against the family of her beautiful cousin, Adeline. That family is slowly being ruined by the uncontrollable sexual appetites of Adelines husband, Baron Hulot, appetites that will, in time, give Cousin Bette opportunity to exact her vengeance. Balzac described Cousin Bette as one of his scenes of Parisian life, and it is certainly that. It offers us a hypnotic vision of that infinitely varied city during the bright, vital, scandalous, and sexually untrammeled era of King LouisPhilippe.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on June 28, 2023

This book had good moments but I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy it more than I did. It's about a jealous old spinster paying her family back for decades of being treated as inferior for being the ugly cousin. She teams up with the beautiful Madame Marneffe (cue the homoerotic undertones) to destroy t......more

Goodreads review by Anne on July 27, 2024

Pro Tip: Honoré de Balzac isn't a name that someone with a Southern accent has an easy time with, and I walked around for a week telling everyone that I was reading a book by someone whose name was Ballsack. Honestly, I should have just listened to the book, shut up, and kept my redneck pronunciation......more

Goodreads review by J.L. on January 10, 2018

Compelling (and unsavory) characters drew me into Honore de Balzac's Cousin Bette (1846). The main plot centers on Cousin Bette's revenge on her family; however, all the stories which make up the novel are imbued by obsessions which drive the narrative to its dark end. Much of how I described Balzac......more

Goodreads review by Daisy on February 16, 2022

After a run of reading more modern books that have left me underwhelmed I thought it was time to remind myself of how great a novel can be. I had had this sitting on my shelf for a while but was feeling too tired to commit to 450 pages and the exertions of flipping back and forth to the notes explai......more

Goodreads review by Ellie on November 17, 2024

I really enjoyed this, it felt loosely Ferrante style in the city element and the family intrigue x Dark, political and rich writing heavy xx......more