Other editions of book Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Lucien de Rubempré and "Abbé Herrera" (Vautrin) have made a pact, in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. Esther van Gobseck throws a wrench into Vautrin's best-laid plans, however, because Lucien falls in love with her and she with him. Instead of forcing Lucien to abandon her, he allows Lucien this secret affair, but also makes good use of it. For four years, Esther remains locked away in a house in Paris, taking walks only at night. One night, however, the Baron de Nucingen spots her and falls deeply in love with her. When Vautrin realizes that Nucingen's obsession is with Esther, he decides to use her powers to help advance Lucien.

In this novel, Balzac explores the Parisian life in 1821-22. He does it in a great way. The characters are ruthlessly impelled by the same motives with which we are all too familiar, sex, the acquisition of money and the jostling for social eminence, and all that is welded together in an ingeniously diabolical plot of high stakes and unexpected twists and double-turns. There’s a great cast of secondary characters, too, from the maids Herrera uses in his carefully orchestrated plans to various members of high society.