{"product_id":"the-magic-skin","title":"La Peau de chagrin","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat if every wish you grant yourself takes away a piece of your life?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Honoré de Balzac’s The Magic Skin, Raphaël de Valentin has good family connections but no money and little reason to live. In a crowded antique shop in Paris, an old dealer offers him a scrap of leather that grants whatever he desires. Each wish makes it smaller—and shortens his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn extravagant feast puts the bargain to the test. Around Raphaël, Balzac gathers gamblers, a wealthy countess named Foedora, and Pauline, who cares for him in poverty while he barely notices her. Money, ambition, and love press against a frightening question: how can he live without wanting?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat you'll discover\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA bargain with teeth\u003c\/strong\u003e – Watch a promise of limitless pleasure turn every ordinary wish into a threat.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eParis in sharp detail\u003c\/strong\u003e – Step among gambling tables, crowded curiosities, and lavish feasts where money shapes desire.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo contrasting women\u003c\/strong\u003e – Meet the admired Foedora and kind Pauline, whose care Raphaël struggles to see.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA life spent wanting\u003c\/strong\u003e – Follow a harsh moral puzzle that makes pleasure and survival pull against each other.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFantasy meets close observation\u003c\/strong\u003e – Discover how Balzac places a supernatural threat within the concrete habits of Parisian life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for readers who enjoy old Paris, fables with moral puzzles, and Balzac’s patient, searching eye for money and ambition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpen the first page now and enter the night when Raphaël has nothing left to lose.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Library of Alexandria Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59534639989084,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1027\/9442\/8764\/files\/03920_en_ebook-front_c15.jpg?v=1792174993","url":"https:\/\/libraryofalexandria.com\/fr\/products\/la-peau-de-chagrin","provider":"The Library of Alexandria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}