Lost illusions

Illusions perdues — in English, Lost Illusions — is a serial novel written by the French writer Honoré de Balzac between 1837 and 1843. It consists of three parts, starting in provincial France, thereafter moving to Paris, and finally returning to the provinces. Thus it resembles another of Balzac's greatest novels, La Rabouilleuse (The Black Sheep, 1842), in that it is set partly in Paris and partly in the provinces. It forms part of the Scènes de la vie de province in La Comédie humaine.