
SCENES FROM A COURTESAN’S LIFE
By Honore De Balzac
SCENES FROM A COURTESAN’S LIFE
ESTHER HAPPY; OR, HOW A COURTESAN CAN LOVE
ADDENDUM - The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
The story opens amid the glittering chaos of an 1824 Paris opera ball, where masked faces conceal ambitions, jealous spouses, and furtive admirers. A handsome young dandy slips through the crowd, driven by an unnamed longing that pulls him deeper into the night’s tangled choreography. Around him, the glittering elite and the curious onlookers exchange sly remarks, while a solitary, stout figure in a domino follows his steps, an unexpected reminder of the hidden motives that pulse beneath the music.
Into this swirl steps Esther Happy, a celebrated courtesan whose reputation for beauty masks a yearning for genuine affection. As she navigates the glittering salons and the whispers of high society, she confronts the paradox of a world that both adores and marginalizes her. Listeners will be drawn into her delicate dance between desire and duty, feeling the pulse of Parisian intrigue and the tender hope that love might yet bloom where it seems most unlikely.
Language
en
Duration
~18 hours (1084K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Dagny, Bonnie Sala, John Bickers, and David Widger
Release date
2005-08-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1799–1850
A giant of French fiction, this restless, ambitious storyteller built a whole literary world in La Comédie humaine, capturing the dreams, vanities, and struggles of 19th-century society. His novels still feel lively because they care so much about money, power, love, and the ways people reinvent themselves.
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