Letters of Two Brides

Through an intimate exchange of letters, two young women—Louise de Chaulieu and Renée de Maucombe—explore their divergent paths after leaving a convent. Louise, an ardent romantic, chases intense passion and idealized love, while Renée chooses a life of duty, reason, and domestic stability. This epistolary novel by Honoré de Balzac offers a profound and contrasting look at marriage, happiness, and the societal expectations placed on women in 19th-century France.