Claude Aziza Libri

Les romans de l'eau : 20 000 lieues sous les mers (1870), Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras (1866), Le chancellor (1875), Le sphinx des glaces (1897)

Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, "Bel-Ami" is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity and humanity.

The first Nestor Burma mystery. Translated from the French. Cover photo by Robert Doisneau.