Cousin Bette Author:Honore De Balzac, Sylvia Raphael (Translator) Novel by Honore de Balzac, published in 1846 as La Cousine Bette. The novel, part of Balzac's epic series La Comedie humaine (The Human Comedy), is considered one of his two final masterpieces. — Set in the Paris of the 1830s and 1840s, it is a complex tale of the devastating effect of violent jealousy and sexual passion. It re... more »counts the story of Lisbeth Fischer, an embittered, unmarried peasant woman who hides her envy and hatred behind a mask of kindness as she attempts to ruin the Hulot family.« less