Other editions of book The Necklace

A beautiful woman imagines she is married below her station. In an effort to make her happy, her husband brings home an invitation to a ball attended by the upper crust of Paris society. To his chagrin, she is only disappointed, and explains she has nothing to wear to the ball. The husband sacrifices his savings to buy her a dress. She has no jewelry, but she has a wealthy friend who will lend her a beautiful accoutrement to accompany the beautiful dress. She dances madly, drunk with pleasure: her time has come. She is the belle of the ball. It is the happiest night of her life, until they arrive at home and the necklace is missing…

"The Necklace" is one of Maupassant's most celebrated stories: a young and impecunious woman borrows a diamond necklace from a rich friend, to wear to a grand ball. When she loses the precious necklace, her life changes entirely – but there is a final, sharp twist in the tail. In Dinesen's "The Pearls", an heiress inherits a string of pearls, which becomes for her a sign of safety and continuity in her tumultuous life.