REVIEW: Ursule Mirouet (Balzac)
Author: Balzac
My rating: 5/5.
Premise: In the small town of Nemours, the locals gossip about the extent of Dr Minoret's wealth. When it is discovered that he intends to leave a large part of it to Ursule, his good-hearted, orphaned young ward the avaricious Minoret relations scheme a way to get their hands on the fortune at any cost.
I always find it hard at first to get into the writing style when I read classic novels. But with this book, I had no problems. This book is part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine, and in it he creates these brilliant characters. You get a real feel of how innocent and naive Ursule is, and how horrible the "heirs" are. There is a definite comedy feel to the book, mostly through the multitude of colourful characters and the small town politics. The story flows nicely and has you rooting for the heroine. A very good read and a book I'd recommend if you want to get into classic novels as the writing style is easy to adapt to.