Cousin Bette (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Set in Paris, Cousin Bette tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family.  As in many of Balzac’s novels, its characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. Critics hailed the book as a turning point in the author’s art—a prototypical naturalist text.  Written in only two months, it is Balzac's last great work.