Fernande

From the acclaimed author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.In 1835 Paris, young Maurice de Barthèle lies dying-not from illness, but from the exquisite torment of unrequited love. The object of his passion? Fernande, a celebrated courtesan who rejected him for the most honorable of reasons: he is married.Desperate to save their son and husband, Maurice's mother and wife devise an audacious plan-invite the notorious Fernande to their respectable country estate. But when the courtesan arrives, nothing unfolds as expected. For Fernande, despite her scandalous reputation, possesses a moral compass that puts society's most virtuous citizens to shame.In this wickedly intelligent comedy of manners, Alexandre Dumas abandons his usual swords and capes for the drawing rooms of French aristocracy, crafting a razor-sharp satire where social outcasts become moral authorities and propriety masks hypocrisy. As boundaries blur between virtue and vice over the course of a single transformative day, each character must confront what they truly value-and what they're willing to sacrifice for it.Fernande reveals the psychological brilliance that influenced a generation of French writers, including Dumas' own son, author of The Lady of the Camellias.