Gaudissart II

It is sometimes difficult to know who most deserves our judgment. Do we look down more upon a shop owner for inventing a royal backstory for one of his items - or is the customer who believes the story even worse?

Set in 19th century Paris, Honoré de Balzac' s short story sees an English woman looking to buy a shawl in a shop. The owner sees a chance to con a foreigner by claiming the shawl was once owned by Empress Josephine, once the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Will she buy the story - and the shawl? Named after Felix Gaudissart, a traveling salesman who appears in other Balzac tales, ´Gaudissart II´ demonstrates Blazac\' s skills as he portrays greed, dishonesty, and gullibility to perfection. ´Gaudissart II´ will delight any reader familiar with Balzac\' s body of work.