
DEDICATION
CHAPTER I. THE FRIGHTENED HEIRS
CHAPTER II. THE RICH UNCLE
CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR’S FRIENDS
CHAPTER IV. ZELIE
CHAPTER V. URSULA
CHAPTER VI. A TREATISE ON MESMERISM
CHAPTER VII. A TWO-FOLD CONVERSION
CHAPTER VIII. THE CONFERENCE
CHAPTER IX. A FIRST CONFIDENCE
The story opens with a tender dedication to a young niece, setting a tone of affection and gentle humor. It quickly transports listeners to the picturesque town of Nemours, where the tranquil autumn landscape frames the daily life of its inhabitants. The narrator introduces Minoret‑Levrault, a stout postmaster whose practical wisdom and modest habits paint a vivid portrait of a man shaped by the Revolution and the Empire, yet content to live by simple, unpretentious rules.
We also meet his only son, a freshly graduated lawyer on the brink of choosing a career, and his supportive parents who have cultivated a modest fortune from the surrounding farms and woods. Their world is one of quiet ambition, family expectations, and the subtle interplay of social mobility in post‑Napoleonic France. As the first act unfolds, listeners will be drawn into the gentle rhythms of provincial life, the characters’ hopes, and the quiet humor that underlies their everyday choices.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (463K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by John Bickers, Bonnie Sala, and David Widger
Release date
2005-10-20
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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