The Grand Bretèche

The old, abandoned manor of La Grande Bretèche stands between the trees like a
secret. Uncovered one day by Dr. Horace Bianchon whilst visiting the nearby
town of Vendôme, the ruins will beckon any wandering visitor in. Full of
intrigue, the doctor simply can’t resist entering the house. But night after
night, he fails. Why can’t La Grande Bretèche be accessed? And what do the
locals know of this mysterious shelter? Adapted into 3 films, 2 episodes, an
opera, and a BBC Radio 4 play, Balzac’s gripping ‘The Human Comedy’ short
story, ‘The Grand Bretèche´, is ideal for fans of Xavier Giannolli’s 2021
‘Lost Illusions’ film. Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and
playwright, most famous for a sequence of novels, collectively called 'The
Human Comedy'. His signature style was a warts-and-all representation of post-
Napoleonic French life, rich in detail and featuring complex, unfiltered
characters. The style means Balzac is regarded as one of the pioneers of
European literary realism. He is named as an influence on writers including
Emile Zola, Henry James, Charles Dickens, and Gustave Flaubert. The first
novel he published under his own name was 'Les Chouans' in 1829. In 1834 he
hit upon the idea of grouping his novels together to record all of society.
The result, over a period of years, was 'The Human Comedy', which comprised
three categories: 'Analytic Studies'; 'Philosophical Studies'; and 'Studies of
Manners'.