The Lily of the Valley

audiobook

The Lily of the Valley

by Honoré de Balzac

EN·~9 hours

Chapters

Description

A young man haunted by a childhood of neglect and sibling cruelty recounts his earliest years with stark honesty. Sent to the countryside as an infant and later returned to a household where even the servants pity his isolation, he endures relentless emotional abuse that shapes his fragile yet resilient spirit. The narrative explores how these formative pains forge a deep inner strength, compelling him to resist the moral compromises that life continually threatens.

Amid this turmoil, the protagonist writes a fervent confession to the woman he loves, revealing his yearning for redemption and the desperate hope that honesty might finally bind their hearts. His letters expose the tension between duty and desire, as well as the lingering specter of past grievances that still shadows his thoughts. Listeners will be drawn into a poignant study of love, memory, and the quiet battles waged within a soul striving to rise above its early wounds.

Details

Language

en

Duration

~9 hours (561K characters)

Publisher of text edition

Project Gutenberg

Credits

Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger

Release date

2005-01-25

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

About the author

Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac

1799–1850

A giant of French fiction, he turned the crowded streets, salons, and back rooms of 19th-century France into vivid, gripping stories. His vast cycle of novels and tales, known as La Comédie humaine, helped shape the modern realist novel.

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