Opulence is sometimes deceiving. Madame Mathilde Loisel is displeased, she cannot go to a fancy party because she doesn't have anything to wear. Her husband tries to help her and gives her money to buy a new dress. She insists she also needs jewels so she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier. After the party, Mathilde realizes that she lost the stunning necklace.

"A hardcover edition of a selection of short stories by French writer Guy de Maupassant, translated by Marjorie Laurie and originally published in Everyman's Library in 1934. This edition contains a new introduction by Catriona Seth, a bibliography, and a chronology of the author's life and times"--

Admired as "the greatest French short story writer," and emulated by Somerset Maugham and O. Henry, Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a master of plot construction and a keen recorder of life, translating his observations into finely crafted short stories that spoke entire volumes. This edition features twelve of de Maupassant's best-known stories, each reflecting the author's keen, compassionate insights into human behavior. Presented in a dual-language...

It tells the story of two brothers, Jake and Peter, whose relationship strains when one of them receives news of a strange inheritance. Deepening the divide between the two, they both grow attracted to a mysterious young woman named Lucia who arrives on their island. Based on Guy de Maupassant's 19th century seaside novel, "Pierre et Jean" is widely credited for changing the course of narrative fiction through its complex and intense psychological...

Extrait : "La vie si courte, si longue, devient parfois insupportable. Elle se déroule, toujours pareille, avec la mort au bout. On ne peut ni l'arrêter, ni la changer, ni la comprendre. Et souvent une révolte indignée vous saisit devant l'impuissance de notre effort. Quoique nous fassions, nous mourrons ! Quoique nous croyions, quoique nous pensions, quoique nous tentions, nous mourrons."

Partial Portraits examines the work of a range of authors, such as Emerson, Eliot, Trollope, and Stevenson. It includes one of James's most famous essays, The Art of Fiction, in which he argues that writers should not be limited in their subject matter, and that the only obligation a writer has is to make the work interesting.

Ranging from poignant scrutiny of social pretension, to wicked tales of lust and love, to harrowing stories of terror and madness, the genius of Guy de Maupassant, France's greatest short-story writer, is on full display in this enthralling new translation by Joachim Neugroschel. The stories Neugroschel has gathered vividly reveal Maupassant's remarkable range, his keen eye, his technical perfection, his sexual realism, his ability to create whole...