The Chouans

The first Balzac I've ever read. A gripping story, without the over-floweriness of Sir Walter Scott, but with lightly lyrical descriptions of the landscape of the West of France, a beautiful and dashing heroine complete with faithful maid-and-friend, plenty of action and adventure, and mostly believable characters, as well as occasional tongue-in-cheek passages to add salt to the meat. I really enjoyed it, found it a real page-turner and read it in a matter of hours. Now I'm off to read Sarracine! Hope you enjoy it too.