Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a pioneer of realism and the modern novel. La Comédie humaine, featuring over 100 works detailing the private and public lives of morally complex c...view moreHonoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a pioneer of realism and the modern novel. La Comédie humaine, featuring over 100 works detailing the private and public lives of morally complex characters, was his life’s work, mostly written between 1am and 8am in the morning while consuming copious cups of black coffee. Letters of Two Brides (Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées) was first published serially in 1841 and later in the section Scenes from private life of La Comédie.view less