Gambara

When Milanese nobleman Count Andrea Marcosini sees Marianna in the crowd at the Palais-Royal in Paris, he immediately decides that she will be his. After all, this wealthy man with a wandering eye is used to getting what he wants.

However, she is married to a composer called "Gambara", whose music reaches heights of beauty - but only when he is drunk. The count gives them money, then gives him a drink, and then, finally, steals Marianna from him.

It is a tale of lust, greed and arrogance - with one significant twist. 'Gambara' will delight fans of Balzac's body of work.

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright, most famous for a sequence of novels, collectively called 'The Human Comedy'. His signature style was a warts-and-all representation of post-Napoleonic French life, rich in detail and featuring complex, unfiltered characters.

The style means Balzac is regarded as one of the pioneers of European literary realism. He is named as an influence on writers including Emile Zola, Henry James, Charles Dickens, and Gustave Flaubert.

The first novel he published under his own name was 'Les Chouans' in 1829. In 1834 he hit upon the idea of grouping his novels together to record all of society. The result, over a period of years, was 'The Human Comedy', which comprised three categories: 'Analytic Studies'; 'Philosophical Studies'; and 'Studies of Manners'.