Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French writer. In literary history, he is regarded, along with Stendhal and Flaubert, as part of the triumvirate of great realists. His main work is the unfinished novel cycle "La Comédie humaine" (translated: "The Human Comedy"), which comprises around 88 titles and aims to depict a comprehensive picture of society in France during his time. "The Lily of the Valley" tells the story of the high school student Felix de Vandernesse, whose passionate love for the twenty-years-older and married Henriette de Mortsauf defies the strict social conventions and moral standards of his era.