A Woman of Thirty [Hardcover]

Honore de Balzac (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

It was a Sunday morning in the beginning of April 1813, a morning which gave promise of one of those bright days when Parisians, for the first time in the year, behold dry pavements underfoot and a cloudless sky overhead. It was not yet noon when a luxurious cabriolet, drawn by two spirited horses, turned out of the Rue de Castiglione into the Rue de Rivoli, and drew up behind a row of carriages standing before the newly opened barrier half-way down the Terrasse de Feuillants. The owner of the carriage looked anxious and out of health; the thin hair on his sallow temples, turning gray already, gave a look of premature age to his face. He flung the reins to a servant who followed on horseback, and alighted to take in his arms a young girl whose dainty beauty had already attracted the eyes of loungers on the Terrasse. The little lady, standing upon the carriage step, graciously submitted to be taken by the waist, putting an arm round the neck of her guide, who set her down upon the pavement without so much as ruffling the trimming of her green rep dress. No lover would have been so careful. The stranger could only be the father of the young girl, who took his arm familiarly without a word of thanks, and hurried him into the Garden of the Tuileries.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Publishing (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421894408
• ISBN-13: 978-1421894409
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,721,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good...but not his best, November 2, 2011

By 

sally tarbox (aylesbury bucks uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman of Thirty (Paperback)

This novel actually follows our leading character, Julie, from being a teenager; in chapter 1 her father takes her to a review of the troops and notices her absorption in a certain handsome colonel whom he counsels her against marrying. The story moves on, father dies and Julie does indeed marry Victor. I dont want to spoil the book for you but there is marital discord, illicit love, parenting problems with one child ever left out in the cold (and the repercussions of THAT!) and the trials of old age. The book's weakness comes when Balzac leaves the more mundane themes of relationships and goes off on a flight of fancy with Helene's bizarre elopement and frankly unbelievable exploits thereafter

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A woman of thirty, August 29, 2009

By 

Ramo "ReadMore" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Woman of Thirty (Paperback)

I love French literature and Balzac has an extraordinary insight into human nature. I always wanted to read this book however the translation is not the best.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars TERRIBLE BINDING!, September 20, 2009

By 

BalzacGirl (new york, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Woman of Thirty (Paperback)

I have two reviews for this book, but the most essential piece of information I can offer is that this book is very shoddily made - upon reading the book only once, it now looks like a well loved used book. Sections of pages cracked right out of the binding. Also, the edition has some strange text/typing issues which didn't bother me as much, but by all means spring for the other, slightly more expensive version.

I won't expound with a full review here, however this book is worth reading, especially to die-hard Balzac fans (of which I'm one). Learning that the piece was culled from unrelated stories made the somewhat shaky plot lines defensible, but it's strength is in just a few fantastic passages on women and age. A short read with some gems of prose - and how can you beat plot twists involving pirate queens? You'll see . . .