https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ball-at-sceaux-the-by-honore-de-balzac-1799-1850--7084373
The central character is Émilie de Fontaine, youngest daughter of a noble but impoverished family in post-revolutionary France. Her hapless father hopes to find her a good marriage, but Émilie, spoiled and willful, has repeatedly turned away suitors. She has a list of requirements for any prospective husband, one of which is that he must, of course, be “the son of a peer of France.” (The peerage was an elite aristocratic distinction.) She holds firm to this resolve, but events have a way of turning out surprisingly.

Balzac was a master of irony and realism and his writings were hugely influential in the development of European fiction.
- Summary by Bruce Pirie]]>enArtsCopyright Audiobooks On Linehttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/ac7d07ed595ecf1435efa9cbf9f52c4a.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ball-at-sceaux-the-by-honore-de-balzac-1799-1850--7084373Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:27:54 +0000Audiobooks On LineAudiobooks On Linefeeds@spreaker.comThe novella “The Ball at Sceaux” is part of Balzac’s great life work — the expansive fiction series titled “The Human Comedy.” The central character is Émilie de Fontaine, youngest daughter of a noble but impoverished family in post-revolutionary...
The central character is Émilie de Fontaine, youngest daughter of a noble but impoverished family in post-revolutionary France. Her hapless father hopes to find her a good marriage, but Émilie, spoiled and willful, has repeatedly turned away suitors. She has a list of requirements for any prospective husband, one of which is that he must, of course, be “the son of a peer of France.” (The peerage was an elite aristocratic distinction.) She holds firm to this resolve, but events have a way of turning out surprisingly.

Balzac was a master of irony and realism and his writings were hugely influential in the development of European fiction.
- Summary by Bruce Pirie]]>false43d2db10-f212-547e-8bed-91974240c962serialhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/section-2--72351594https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72351594Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:07:51 +0000Audiobooks On Line1886false2fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/section-4--72351600https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72351600Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:07:51 +0000Audiobooks On Line2419false4fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/section-5--72351602https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72351602Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:07:51 +0000Audiobooks On Line1543false5fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/section-1--72351609https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72351609Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:07:51 +0000Audiobooks On Line2234false1fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/section-3--72351610https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72351610Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:07:51 +0000Audiobooks On Line1740false3full