The Village Rector

Veronique Graslin is a woman of strength. Despite being scarred by smallpox at
11, and then railroaded into a miserable marriage with a man who resembles an
"antique satyr", she builds a life of wealth and good works in the French
countryside. But, nibbling away at her conscience like a persistent rat, there
is a dark secret that will not let her go. After Veronique encounters two
criminals, as well as Monsieur Bonnet, the insightful rector, she feels that
her soul is being "ploughed". Balzac's novel mixes the spiritual with the
political, exposing rural injustice, and railing against the horrific
conditions endured by criminals on the French galleys. All the time, he
tiptoes toward the big reveal: what is Veronique's secret? If you like 'Bleak
House' by Charles Dickens and 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo, you will enjoy
'The Village Rector'. 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'.