Guy de Maupassant

Treize contes

English translation by Jonathan Sturges, 1889

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Original publication: 1889
Pages: 224
Difficulty: Medium
Translated from: French

Book summary

Thirteen short stories by the master of the genre. A young wife borrows a diamond necklace for a ball and loses it; an old peasant picks up a piece of string and is accused of theft for the rest of his life; a ship lies wrecked on the sand at low tide, with a family of young English girls on board. Maupassant tells them in a few pages, with sharp eyes and an ending that often turns the story around. Each one can be read in a sitting.

The plot

Thirteen tales. Happiness: in a hut in Corsica, a traveller meets an old woman who grew up in a rich, noble family.

The world of the book

From Paris offices to Normandy markets. Most of the tales take place in 19th-century France, in very different worlds. In Paris, a clerk at a ministry earns just enough to live, and his wife dreams of jewels and…

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