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Audiobook edition · 8 h 33 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A senator vanishes, old enemies fall under suspicion, and the secret police want results more than truth.
In the Champagne countryside, noble families return from exile to find their lands in other hands. Laurence de Cinq-Cygne stands fiercely by her family, while the Simeuse twins long to recover their lost estate. Gondreville now belongs to Malin, a shrewd senator who prospers through every change of power.
When masked men carry Malin away, police agents and magistrates begin their searches and interrogations. Laurence and her circle face a world where old loyalties invite danger. In An Historical Mystery, Honoré de Balzac turns a kidnapping into a searching question: what does justice mean when those in power have so much to protect?
What you’ll discover
- A fearless young noblewoman Meet Laurence, whose pride and courage drive her determination to protect her cousins.
- Loyalty behind a mask Follow Michu, a former steward whose rough Revolutionary appearance conceals fierce devotion to his old masters.
- The secret police at work Watch Corentin set traps in a pursuit that values success above the truth.
- An estate worth fighting over Explore Gondreville, where lost family lands bring private bitterness into the struggle for power.
- Justice under political pressure Look beyond the crime to the old wrongs beneath France's new order.
Who will love it
Readers who love historical fiction, spy and police intrigue, courtroom drama, or tales of loyalty and first love in the Napoleonic years will enjoy this novel.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A feared man prepares his rifle
- Loyalty changes Michu's immediate purpose
- Laurence meets the police with defiance
- A secret refuge reveals Michu's devotion
- Pride shuts out a friendly warning
- An innocent secret resembles a crime
- Marthe's trust becomes a trap
- Power controls the path of evidence
- Small clues connect loyalty and power
Who’s who
- MichuThe feared bailiff of Gondreville, nicknamed Judas, who secretly guards the Simeuse family's fortune and will risk his life for its young heirs.
- Marthe MichuMichu's gentle wife, daughter of a revolutionary judge, who lives in shame and learns to see her husband's true worth.
- Laurence de Cinq-CygneA fearless young countess who rides, plots and defies the police, and loves her two cousins equally.
- Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul de SimeuseIdentical twin brothers, returned exiles, who both love Laurence and want to win back the estate of Gondreville.
- Adrien d'HauteserreA gentle, devoted young cousin who loves Laurence in silence, alongside his brother Robert, who understands the twins' painful rivalry.
- MalinA senator and survivor of every regime, who owns Gondreville through a hidden deal and fears the heirs who might claim it.
- CorentinA cold police agent in Fouché's service, clever and patient, who never forgives an insult.
- Bordin and de GrandvilleThe old lawyer and his gifted young assistant who defend the accused, knowing the odds are against them.
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An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery)
by Honoré de Balzac · 1841
A bailiff called Judas loads a rifle at dusk as two Paris spies walk toward the estate he guards.
Medium level2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“A writer of the 20th century may also, on occasion, feel imprisoned by his time, and reading the great 19th century novelists – Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky – may bring on a certain nostalgia.”
In short
Picture a man sitting in the autumn sun, cleaning a heavy rifle with great care. His wife and his mother-in-law watch him in fear.
An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery) at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 55 min3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 69,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1841by Honoré de Balzac
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A feared bailiff guards a stolen estate
The story opens on the fifteenth of November, 1803, in the clearing before Gondreville Park. Michu, short, stout and red-bearded, cleans a rifle while his wife Marthe and her old mother look on. The whole district fears him.
Balzac explains why. Michu was once head keeper for the Simeuse family, who raised him kindly. During the Terror he led the Jacobin club at Arcis, and he watched his old master and mistress go to the scaffold. Gondreville was sold as national property, and Malin, a clever politician now on the Council of State, was the real buyer. Michu stayed on as bailiff, and the police have watched him since he threatened Marion.
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Details
- First published
- 1841
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Balzac, Honoré de. An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery). Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-historical-mystery-the-gondreville-mystery.
Balzac, H. de. (2026). An historical mystery (the Gondreville mystery). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-historical-mystery-the-gondreville-mystery (Original work published 1841)
Balzac, Honoré de. An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery). Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-historical-mystery-the-gondreville-mystery.
@book{balzac2026historical,
author = {Balzac, Honoré de},
title = {An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery)},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-historical-mystery-the-gondreville-mystery},
note = {First published 1841}
}
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What is An Historical Mystery by Balzac about?
It follows the aftermath of a plot against Napoleon, as a loyal bailiff and a young countess protect two exiled brothers and are then caught in the kidnapping of a powerful senator, leading to a tense trial.
Who is Michu in The Gondreville Mystery?
Michu is the bailiff of the Gondreville estate. Neighbours call him Judas because he served the revolutionary side, but he secretly guards the money and safety of the Simeuse family, whose twin sons he has sworn to protect.
Is An Historical Mystery based on a true story?
It is a work of fiction set in 1803 to 1806, but it uses real people and events, including Napoleon, Fouché, Talleyrand, the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal and the Battle of Jena, as its background.
The author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 · French novelist
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright born in Tours in 1799. He lived and worked in Paris, where he died in 1850. He wrote The Magic Skin in 1831, Eugénie Grandet in 1833, and Father Goriot in 1835. Many of his works belong to La Comédie humaine.
“We die singing.”
More by Honoré de Balzac
See all their booksMore like this
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