M. Grandet, a vine-grower, lessor, and ruthless businessman, is the richest man in the town of Saumur. He's also a miser: he lives in a decrepit house, parcels out sugar and eggs as if they'll never be replenished, and lights only a single candle in the parlor at night. He's worth many millions, but he and his family live as paupers.
His daughter, Eugénie, has no idea they're rich; austerity is all she has ever known. But the arrival of a handsome, impoverished cousin from Paris, and the love she develops for him, makes her begin to see things differently. When she decides to help her cousin, her father's reaction throws the family into crisis, and it's unclear whether it can be resolved at all.
First published in 1833 as part of Balzac's sprawling La Comédie humaine, Eugénie Grandet is a masterful character study of avarice and its corrosive effect on family and love. With psychological precision and biting social commentary, Balzac paints an unforgettable portrait of provincial life in Restoration France, where the pursuit of wealth curdles into cruelty and one woman's quiet endurance becomes an act of extraordinary moral courage.
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