Honoré de Balzac
Horror Story Collection 002
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
An occasional collection of 10 horror stories by various readers. We aim to unsettle you a little, to cut through the pink cushion of illusi…
Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 4
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
In the six volumes of the Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Julian Hawthorne presents us thrilling and mysterious s…
Cousin Betty
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Cousin Betty (La Cousine Bette), published in serial format in 1846, was one of the last and greatest of Balzac's works. It was part of his …
Eugénie Grandet
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Eugénie Grandet, first published in 1833, is one of Honoré de Balzac's finest novels, and one of the first works in what would…
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 03
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
The Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, is a work of enormous proportions. Setting out with the simple goal of offer…
Farewell
Read by Martin Geeson
Honoré de Balzac
In his startling and tragic novella Farewell (‘Adieu’), Balzac adds to the 19th century’s literature of the hysterical woman: sequestered, c…
Father Goriot
Read by James E. Carson
Honoré de Balzac
One of Balzac's most popular works, set around 1815 during the re-ascendancy of the Bourbon kings following the defeat of Napoleon. Said to …
International Short Stories Volume 3: French Stories
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Variousandfrancis J. Reynolds
The third book of a three volume anthology of international short stories, we now turn to French stories. Authors include Honoré de B…
The Girl with the Golden Eyes
Read by Martin Geeson
Honoré de Balzac
Listeners who like to plunge straight into a story would do well to skip the lengthy preamble. Here, Balzac the virtuoso satirist depicts th…
Short Ghost and Horror Collection 021
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up …
Short Story Collection Vol. 060
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
LibriVox readers bring you 20 short stories in various genres by authors including Edna Ferber, Charlotte Brontë, Stephan Crane, W. Som…
Father Goriot (version 2)
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot), published in 1835, is widely considered to be Balzac's finest and most popular novel. It is set in Pa…
Letters of Two Brides
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Honoré de Balzac
Letters of Two Brides is an epistolary novel. The two brides are Louise de Chaulieu (Madame Gaston) and Renée de Maucombe (Madame l'E…
Lost Illusions: A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris (Un grand homme de province à Paris, 1839) is the second book in Balzac’s Lost Illusions trilogy,…
Lost Illusions: Two Poets
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Two Poets (1837) is the first book in Balzac’s Lost Illusions trilogy, which is part of his sweeping set of novels collectively titled La Co…
Sarrasine
Read by Chip
Honoré de Balzac
Published by Honoré de Balzac in the tempestuous year of 1830, the tale follows the undulating pathways of Sarrasine the sculptor’s s…
The Magic Skin
Read by James E. Carson
Honoré de Balzac
Something along the lines of Dorian Gray as part of the Comedies Humane Philosophique, this is Balzac's first successful novel. He even wrot…
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is one of the last great works completed by Balzac for his huge novel series entitled The Human Comedy. Sect…
Lost Illusions: Ève and David
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Ève and David (1843) is the final book in Balzac’s Lost Illusions trilogy, which is part of his sweeping set of novels collectively t…
Cousin Pons
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Cousin Pons is one of the final works in Balzac's long novel series titled The Human Comedy. It was published in 1847, along with Cousin Bet…
Love Letter Collection 2008
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
LibriVox readers have cast their nets wide to create this small collection of letters and poems, from fiction and from life, from heart to h…
Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Variousandcarl Van Vechten
The Lords of the Housetops reveals the cat through the creative lenses of 13 authors. Consequently, this carefully chosen collection of stor…
Love in a Mask, or Imprudence and Happiness
Read by Lee Smalley
Honoré de Balzac
Love in a Mask, or Imprudence and Happiness, is an entertaining short novel by Honoré de Balzac, unpublished in his lifetime. Beginni…
Louis Lambert
Read by Don W. Jenkins
Honoré de Balzac
Louis Lambert is an 1832 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), included in the Études philosop…
The Vicar of Tours
Read by Nicholas Clifford (1930-2019)
Honoré de Balzac
Over twenty years before Anthony Trollope wrote The Warden, in which the gentle but unfortunate Rev. Septimus Harding becomes the prey of an…
Modeste Mignon
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Honoré de Balzac
Modeste Mignon, a young provincial woman of romantic temperament, imagines herself to be in love with the famous Parisian poet Melchior de C…
The Phoenix and the Carpet (version 3 Dramatic Reading)
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E. Nesbit and Honoré de Balzac
Cyril, Robert, Anthea and Jane need a new carpet for the nursery, but it turns out to be a magic carpet containing a phoenix egg! They disco…
Gobseck
Read by James E. Carson
Honoré de Balzac
Part of the La Comedie Humane and something of a sequence to Balzac's Father Goriot, the short book's title is the name of the pawn broker/m…
Another Study of Woman
Read by Nicholas Clifford (1930-2019)
Honoré de Balzac
A series of tales -- told by men, of course -- about women. Though the book first appeared in 1842, Balzac later added to it as an addenfum …
Catherine De' Medici
Read by Edmund Bloxam
Honoré de Balzac
The Philosophical Studies from The Human Comedy (La Comedie Humaine) are a series of works that are intended as a reflection on history in p…
Colonel Chabert
Read by Nicole Lee
Honoré de Balzac
Colonel Chabert is a soldier, who goes missing during the Napoleonic wars, and then returns from the dead, most inconveniently for his wife,…
The Firm of Nucingen
Read by James E. Carson
Honoré de Balzac
Part of the Comedie Humane and a "supplementary" tale to go with Father Goriot and Gobseck. Nucingen is the married family name of…
Short Ghost and Horror Collection 037
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up yo…
The Red Inn
Read by pmstrahm
Honoré de Balzac
Staying at the red inn. Two army surgeons get caught up in a murder, intrigue and execution. - Summary by pmstrahm
Short Story Collection Vol. 087
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Various
Presenting the 87th Short Story Collection, in which Librivox readers have selected and read a variety of fictional works. In this anthology…
La Grande Bretèche
Read by Nicholas Clifford (1930-2019)
Honoré de Balzac
La Grande Bretèche is an addendum to Balzac's Another Study of Woman, and is the final of a set of stories told around a dinner table…
The Chouans
Read by Jim Locke
Honoré de Balzac
Les Chouans is one of the novels in Balzac's series La Comedie Humaine. Its ostensible focus is a historical military conflict, but it also …
The Chouans (version 2)
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“The Chouans” (1829) was the first novel published under Balzac’s own name (rather than a pen-name). It became the first book in the great w…
The Duchess of Langeais
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“The Duchess of Langeais” (1834) is part of Balzac’s great life’s work, the sprawling novel series called “The Human Comedy.” This novel is …
Ursula
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“Ursula,” first published in French in 1841 as “Ursule Mirouët,” is part of Balzac’s great suite of novels, collectively titled “The Hu…
The Ball at Sceaux
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
The novella “The Ball at Sceaux” is part of Balzac’s great life work — the expansive fiction series titled “The Human Comedy.” The central c…
César Birotteau
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“Rise and Fall of César Birotteau” (1837) is part of Balzac’s great novel series titled “The Human Comedy.”The story is set in Paris,…
The Two Brothers
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“The Two Brothers” (1842) is part of Balzac’s great life work, the novel series known as “The Human Comedy.” Balzac’s French title was “La R…
Colonel Chabert (Version 2)
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
The short novel “Colonel Chabert” (1832) is part of Balzac’s great life work, the sprawling novel series titled “The Human Comedy.” Chabert,…
The Unknown Masterpiece
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“The Unknown Masterpiece” (“Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu”) is a novella by Honoré de Balzac, published with revisions in 1845, after earli…
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
The short novel “At the Sign of the Cat and Racket” was one of Balzac’s earliest fictions, first published in 1830 and substantially revised…
A Second Home
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
This novella was first published in French in 1830, with the title “La femme vertueuse” (“The virtuous woman”). In an 1842 edition, the titl…
Ferragus, Chief of the Dévorants
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Honoré de Balzac
Why would someone with an immaculate reputation enter a house known for vices? A young officer sets out to uncover the "secret" of…
The Marriage Contract
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
Balzac’s novel “The Marriage Contract” (1835) is part of his “Scenes of Private Life,” which is one section of “The Human Comedy,” his great…
The Commission in Lunacy
Read by Bruce Pirie
Honoré de Balzac
“The Commission in Lunacy” is a short novel first published in 1836 with the French title “L’interdiction” (i.e., “The Ban” or “The Prohibit…