Cover of The Magic Skin by Honore de Balzac Audiobook The Magic Skin
Audiobook · Sovereign

The Magic Skin

Author
Honore de Balzac
Read by
Eloise Fairfax
Language
English
Length
9 hours 31 minutes
ISBN
9781802564174
Published
24 March 2025
Imprint
Sovereign
  • Balzac
  • realism
  • France
  • French
  • historical
  • classics
  • thriller
  • novel
  • philosophical
  • psychological

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Description

Raphael de Valentin, ruined and despairing in Paris, buys a magic piece of shagreen from an antiquary: every wish it grants shrinks the skin and spends his life. Foedora's cold brilliance and Pauline's quieter love pull him between desire and remaining days. Balzac's philosophical tale of appetite as a countdown: fortune, love, and a talisman that exacts its price.

Author

Honore de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. Known for his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are morally ambiguous. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, described as a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.

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