Pauline

Author's name: Alexandre Dumas

With Pauline, Dumas signs a novel steeped in romanticism and truly rooted in its time.
The author goes further when he places himself among the characters of his novel, his companions, and Parisian life at that time. Unlike many of Dumas's novels, the historical-political framework is completely neglected here (despite the many upheavals that characterized this period, and the author abandoned his usual mythological heroes here). In Pauline's novel, the heroes are not madmen, but young men suffering from the "scourge of the century": they represent frustrated, idle, romantic youth; rich youth, with no other activities than balls, trips, and performances, and, above all, no ambitions that drive them; they are desperately searching for an outlet for their passion. Here, successive paths intertwine, slowly revealing Pauline's grave and terrifying secret.
At the same time, Dumas's innovative narrative technique reveals that he transcends his era to settle among the experiences of the greatest contemporary novelists.
What will happen to Pauline de Moulin? How will she live her life amidst the aristocratic, velvet French society? And to what end will the despicable plots and her heart full of noble love lead her?