Finished: Letters of Two Brides (de Balzac) Another fascinating piece of Honore de Balzac's collection of novels on French life, La Comedie Humaine. This one was the tail of two extremely close best friends who leave a convent at the same time when they're 18, only to take two different paths. The entire book is written in the form of letters back and forth, mainly between the two young ladies as they both embark on marriages for different reasons. Renee comes home and is immediately married into an arranged marriage, but by her own consent. She marries Louis, a French soldier who had been brutalized in the war and has come home a mere shell of himself. Rather than marrying for love, Renee marries for what she sees could be a virtuous future where their caring and respect will grow for each other as they remain on the country estate and raise a family. Her best friend Louise chastises her through her letters...complaining that Renee is settling rather than doing as they both promised by going out and finding love through adventure and experience. Needless to say...that's what Louise does. She goes immediately into Paris society with her wealthy family, but is bored with all the good-looking young men who think more of themselves than the women they pursue. It's not until Louise is taking Spanish lessons from Felipe, a 37 year old, "ugly" man that she falls in love with the person inside the man, rather than the outside cover. She also realizes that the man worships her and while she reels him in, she insists that he be her slave in love. They do marry, but Renee chastises her friend as well, telling her she has married not for true love, but for how much this man loves and worships her. She feels this will eventually lead Felipe to feeling so emasculated that he will die broken-hearted. What no one knows is that Felipe is a former Spanish duke who has been exiled from his country after being defeated in a revolution. In other words...he's super rich and is able to keep Louise in the lifestyle to which she's become accustomed. Renee's husband blossoms under her caring and as they have children, three in all, both he and their love for each other strengthens. Renee and Louise continue to write, but sometimes less often as Renee is busy with her children and Louise is busy traveling around with Felipe. Louise actually longs for a child of her own after a few years, but she is never blessed. Suddenly one day Felipe dies. It is not explained how, but implied that he finally exhausted his ability to use his entire soul worshiping Louise. Renee rushes to Louise's aid, and then their lives get back to what they were. Louise has her third child and Renee, now 27, falls in love with Gaston, a 23 year old poet...a poet as poor as dirt. However, he worships her as well and they marry. Louise has a chateau built where she and Gaston can live, never to be disturbed by outside influences...or to even go into Paris, as she used to love to do. Louise is jealous and worried that Gaston might fall for a younger woman. Again, she's unable to conceive a child and so it very distraught. One day she catches Gaston in a lie and sees that he's been to Paris without her. She follows him the next time he goes and sees him with a rather unattractive woman...but a woman that goes by his last name! And, a woman with two little boys by her side that look just like Gaston! Feeling that her love and life is over, she writes to Renee to tell her that she will soon die from a broken heart. Renee rushes to her side again, only to meet Gaston first and find out that Gaston was trying to take care of his brother's widow and her children without burdening Louise and having her think he needed her money! Louise is thrilled to hear this news, but it's too late. She had worked herself into a frenzy and gone out several nights in a row to lay by the cool, wet lake, thus bringing on a bad case of consumption. Louise does die with both Gaston and Renee by her side. The End. :-( Though de Balzac can go into some pretty detailed philosophical opinions, this time about motherhood, and about what circumstances make a better marriage, the book kept me reading as I was anxious to see a happy ending for everyone. I really wanted Louise to finally have a child. Instead...the story ended in tragedy. Ce la vie!