Honoré de Balzac's Vendetta (La Vendetta) is the first book I've read this year written prior to the twentieth century. The novel (though very short, really a novella I think) was published in 1830 and is the eighth book in Balzac's La Comédie humaine, and within those interlinked stories it is one from a group known as Scènes de la vie privée. The novels, a total of 91 written (though more had been projected), are meant to present a "panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon". It is also my first book by Balzac and most assuredly won't be my last. I've forgotten how much I enjoy 19th century literature and think I need to choose more books from previous centuries before the rest of the year slips away.
I was a little apprehensive about this as I couldn't find The Vendetta in my library in paper format so decided to download it to my Nook from Project Gutenberg. Would the translation be clunky and the language difficult as so often seems to happen with early translations? I needn't have worried, as it read fairly smoothly. The edition offered by Project Gutenberg was translated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley (1830-1908) who was born in England but emigrated to the United States when she was very young. She served as a nurse in the Civil War and was one of the best known translators of her time. She apparently translated all of Balzac's works as well as those by a number of other authors. Of course I can't speak for content and how true she was to the original, but it was relatively easy reading and the language, save for a few dated wordings, felt quite natural. I'm guessing this a lesser novel out of the many that are part of this cyle of stories. It was very passionate and perhaps a little melodramatic, but a quick and entertaining story and not a bad introduction to Balzac.
The Vendetta is a story of love and revenge set in 1815 France just after the battle of Waterloo, but to properly set the scene it's necessary to backtrack fifteen years and travel to the island of Corsica where in an act of revenge Bartolomeo di Piombo kills the Porta family by setting fire to their home, save for one small boy who was rescued. Although Bartolomeo believed a truce had put an end to the feuding between the two families, the Portas murdered his only son and set fire to his vineyard when he was away on business. His wife and daughter were receiving the sacrament so escaped death. A once distinguished family and one of the island's wealthiest now flee with nothing.
It's to the First Consul of France they travel, to Napoleon Bonaparte, a fellow Corsican and one of a family Bartolomeo di Piombo revered and protected. Through Napoleon's intervention Bartolomeo is able to establish himself as a successful man in Paris. He is quite close to his wife and daughter, particularly his daughter with whom he shares a passionate and unyielding nature. It is their tenacity to their beliefs and unwillingness to bend that will eventually lead to an ironic and tragic end.
Bartolomeo funnels all his hopes and dreams through Ginevra, his daughter. She is allowed an education by her parents and discovers a love and talent for painting. Ginevra is so beautiful, however, that her father brings her directly to the door of Monsieur Servin's studio. She's quite the most popular and elegant of students--a class made up not only of daughters of the merchant class but also of the aristocracy. She's likened to Napoleon and his ascendancy over his soldiers. She's tall with a noble Italian countenance, but not all the other girls in the class love and respect her. One afternoon she discovers there is a young man hidden away behind a partition in the classroom wearing the uniform of Napoleon's army. As an ardent supporter of Bonaparte she wishes to help protect him in what is now a dangerous environment. Along the way the two fall deeply and profoundly in love.
(Spoiler alert next paragraph).
Can you guess who the young man is? By the time she learns he is Luigi Porta, the son who was rescued so many years ago in Corsica, it is too late. She chooses love over her father's vengeance. And more awfully for her father, she chooses marriage to Luigi over the duty of a daughter. She is ready to move beyond the arcane law of the vendetta, but her father is not and so casts her off from his house. I've already alluded to how things end, but I won't give all away, as there's no fun in that.
(End of spoilers).
This isn't a particularly cheerful tale, though there were moments of happiness. I suppose you could consider it a morality tale of sorts. This is what happens when we don't learn from our mistakes and offer no forgiveness, we are doomed to repeat ourselves and live in sorrow. I'm very curious to know how it compares to other stories within La Comédie humaine. I don't really know anything about Balzac or his works, but this was an interesting taste. I do plan on reading more and recommendations are, as always welcome, on where to go next.
Caroline at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat and Emma at Book Around the Corner read this as well, so please do click on over to read their thoughts on the book. Although I am still reading Jean-Francois Parot, this is most likely my one finish this month for Paris in July, which is hosted by Karen at BookBath and Tamara at Thyme for Tea.