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At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850)
Translated by Clara Bell (1835 - 1927)

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 in following years.

The title (“La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote”) refers to a sign that hangs over a Parisian fabric shop, depicting a cartoon cat playing racquetball. The business is owned by a family with a narrow view of prim bourgeois propriety. Their complacency is disrupted when a gifted young man of artistic temperament and aristocratic upbringing woos their daughter. What follows is a poignant picture of domestic life and the stress that ensues when different social classes meet and marry. - Summary by Bruce Pirie

Genre(s): Literary Fiction, Published 1800 -1900

Language: English

Keyword(s): marriage (151), realism (47), social class (14), 19th century france (7), bourgeois (6), middle class (5)