Cousin Bette by Honoré de BalzacMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My first time reading Balzac and I now know why he is so revered. Cousin Bette is a brutal and satisfying study of debauchery of every kind.
Lisbeth (Cousin Bette) is an un-monied, unattractive old maid without prospects, who is sort of adopted by her beautiful cousin, Adeline. Through a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself ill-used by a man on whom she had pinned her hopes and also deceived by her own family. As Shakespeare put it, "Hell hath no fury ...."
What unfolds is a blow back of epic proportions. Like a chess grandmaster, Bette carefully and skillfully plows a path of destruction through the lives of all who have contrived to dismiss and devalue her. Those lives, all propped up to accommodate great flaws and frailties, are highly susceptible to manipulation. She chooses a partner-in-crime, Valerie, who is equally determined to bend the will of the world to her own, and who is a thoroughly detestable woman.
Adeline is the most decent human in the story, even though she is weak and lets her husband squander all of their resources on young women who use him.
As this exploration of human vice and virtue unfolds, the reader sees destruction everywhere.
Balzac is brilliant.
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