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The Nobleman and Other Romances
Born Dutch, noble, and free-spirited, Isabelle de Charrière (also known as Belle de Zuylen) was an enlightened woman whose writings - not unlike Jane Austen's - tackled the intricacies of high society, particularly in matters of love. Published when she was only twenty- two, 'The Nobleman' is a Persuasion-like tale whose heroine challenges her stodgy father in order to marry a man of unassuming ancestry. But Charrière did not confine herself to simple marriage plots and country courtships. Another story, 'Eagonlette and Suggestina', is a thinly veiled critique of Marie Antoinette, cleverly disguised as a fairy tale. The Nobleman and Other Romances will delight fans of Jane Austen and Enlightenment-era French literature.
439 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1763
About the author
Isabelle de Charrière
98 books8 followersAlso under: Belle van Zuylen
Born near Utrecht, The Netherlands as Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken. In the Netherlands she is also known as Belle van Zuylen or Belle de Zuylen.
Her parents gave her a much better education than was usual for a girl in that time.
She married Charles-Emmanuel de Charrière de Penthaz in 1771 and lived the latter half of her life in Switzerland. She is now best known for her letters although she also wrote novels, pamphlets, music and plays.
Born near Utrecht, The Netherlands as Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken. In the Netherlands she is also known as Belle van Zuylen or Belle de Zuylen.
Her parents gave her a much better education than was usual for a girl in that time.
She married Charles-Emmanuel de Charrière de Penthaz in 1771 and lived the latter half of her life in Switzerland. She is now best known for her letters although she also wrote novels, pamphlets, music and plays.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 23, 2015
Short stories, novellas and fragments by an eighteenth-century Dutch aristocrat, mostly in French, set in France, Switzerland and England. Stories about young people who may or may not get to marry the right people, with sensibility, humour and commentary on political and cultural issues. Like Jane Austen, in that what female writer, particularly what olden times female writer, is not like Jane Austen? Like Jane Austen in the young people and marriage thing. The most obvious thing that stops Charriere from being as good as Jane Austen is that she doesn't have the same stamina and ability to sustain her ideas. A lot of these works, even the finished ones, end abruptly and inconclusively. Though you could, with justification, make a case, as the introduction does, for this demonstrating Charriere's immediacy and uncompromised engagement with complexity. However, if Charriere had written a full-sized novel she would be much more of a thing, and I'm pretty sure I'd have liked to read that novel.
Charriere is not like Jane Austen in good ways that are quite surprising if you're used to the English versions of this kind of writing. There's just a sense that you can't quite guess where Charriere will go because you can't guess quite how much is within or out of her bounds. There's a story where the romantic leads bond over making the arrangements for the man's illegitimate child. There's a story about a vivacious social butterfly's unhappy marriage to a good man who she can't please no matter how hard she tries that's an interesting perspective on this kind of marital dynamic. There's a story about a mother and daughter where the mother tells her daughter firstly how very important chastity and purity is, and secondly that she will still love her just as much if she loses these and will still think she is just as nice. There's a story written during the French Revolution about the French Revolution. There's two stories that make at least glancing references to the fact that colonial exploitation is morally disquieting. Charriere writes an engaging version of her genre and gets us stretching our legs within it. This edition apparently left out two slightly longer pieces that have already been translated, which on the whole I think was a shame. The translator also on a couple of occasions gave us the first draft of a passage followed by a more polished version, which I felt was unnecessary. Definitely appreciated this on the whole though.
Charriere is not like Jane Austen in good ways that are quite surprising if you're used to the English versions of this kind of writing. There's just a sense that you can't quite guess where Charriere will go because you can't guess quite how much is within or out of her bounds. There's a story where the romantic leads bond over making the arrangements for the man's illegitimate child. There's a story about a vivacious social butterfly's unhappy marriage to a good man who she can't please no matter how hard she tries that's an interesting perspective on this kind of marital dynamic. There's a story about a mother and daughter where the mother tells her daughter firstly how very important chastity and purity is, and secondly that she will still love her just as much if she loses these and will still think she is just as nice. There's a story written during the French Revolution about the French Revolution. There's two stories that make at least glancing references to the fact that colonial exploitation is morally disquieting. Charriere writes an engaging version of her genre and gets us stretching our legs within it. This edition apparently left out two slightly longer pieces that have already been translated, which on the whole I think was a shame. The translator also on a couple of occasions gave us the first draft of a passage followed by a more polished version, which I felt was unnecessary. Definitely appreciated this on the whole though.
January 16, 2017
I can't forgive the editor of this collection for having omitted de Charriere's greatest novella, Caliste, from this collection. It was the sequel to the Letters from Lausanne (included), and exercised an important influence on Germaine de Stael and Benjamin Constant. The whole point of Penguin is to make great works of literature available to a wide public. I believe that this is the first mass-market paperback collection of de Charriere's writings in English translation, and to have excluded Caliste from this collection is just insane. I give de Charriere herself five stars, but I knock one off on account of the idiot editor.
July 3, 2025
Isabelle de Charierre is a new favourite: she knows more and dares more about the human condition. She is a mistress of the cliffhanger and the dramatic. And I love her letters as novels.
I like the comment in the introduction regarding her being seen as the French, Swiss and Dutch Jane Austen, all rolled into one: “Charriere party or knew more, and partly dared more”
As she says herself in her letters: : “I would like to put things back in their place, and for everyone to do justice to themselves”.
She is bold and bright and I like how she picks a fight. A “penetrating mind and a good heart”indeed. She bites but gently
The Nobleman has a great dramatic quality
“Not much is needed to polish someone with a penetrating mind and a good heart”
“She grew vexed at his silence. In his place, she said to herself, I do believe that I would speak”
“Ah, Valaincourt! Said Julie, with a look and a sigh that promises everything, That replied yes to everything he would have liked to say”
The cliffhanger and the dramatic
I’m really enjoying the epistolary novel form. Letter from Neufchâtel is just fabulous - it dies that rare thing of being a satire which is joyous, without losing its bite - with such a play on love and morality; the ease which the two fall in love despite the pregnancy of the poor working girl. I like the way she seems to insert herself as the “caustic commentator” Z*** in one of the letters.
Letters from Miss Henley and the note regarding the novel on page 1 is just far too relatable :))) “my husband doesn’t worry at all… I saw him smile and turn… they will all be believing themselves, amazed that they’ve been able to bear life so patiently”” :)))
“I would like at least to warn the husbands even if I can’t change them: I would like to put things back in their place, and for everyone to do justice to themselves”
“Returned with a fortune from the West Indies…there was nothing particularly unsavoury attached to the way in which he had acquired it. But neither did his reputation glow with the pure light of delicacy and disinterest”
Her choice of husband and the contrasts; and the insights of her mind; to her having to be stepmother to the child; are all exquisitely portrayed in biting gentle satire
“The poor child is certainly more unhappy and less wel brought up than before I came here”
P83 the way that they fight about the cat and then the furnishings “my first wife liked these””oh if only she were still alive!”… and then the cat runs off
… and as the dog disappears, we start to see the story repeating itself in fact
“Mr Henley was very attentive to Miss C, a young lady from the country who is very fresh faced and cheerful as well as modest and not pretty in the slightest…all things considered, I was very pleased with myself and everyone else”
And when he declines honours and favours and she has to hold it together - just brilliant
I like the comment in the introduction regarding her being seen as the French, Swiss and Dutch Jane Austen, all rolled into one: “Charriere party or knew more, and partly dared more”
As she says herself in her letters: : “I would like to put things back in their place, and for everyone to do justice to themselves”.
She is bold and bright and I like how she picks a fight. A “penetrating mind and a good heart”indeed. She bites but gently
The Nobleman has a great dramatic quality
“Not much is needed to polish someone with a penetrating mind and a good heart”
“She grew vexed at his silence. In his place, she said to herself, I do believe that I would speak”
“Ah, Valaincourt! Said Julie, with a look and a sigh that promises everything, That replied yes to everything he would have liked to say”
The cliffhanger and the dramatic
I’m really enjoying the epistolary novel form. Letter from Neufchâtel is just fabulous - it dies that rare thing of being a satire which is joyous, without losing its bite - with such a play on love and morality; the ease which the two fall in love despite the pregnancy of the poor working girl. I like the way she seems to insert herself as the “caustic commentator” Z*** in one of the letters.
Letters from Miss Henley and the note regarding the novel on page 1 is just far too relatable :))) “my husband doesn’t worry at all… I saw him smile and turn… they will all be believing themselves, amazed that they’ve been able to bear life so patiently”” :)))
“I would like at least to warn the husbands even if I can’t change them: I would like to put things back in their place, and for everyone to do justice to themselves”
“Returned with a fortune from the West Indies…there was nothing particularly unsavoury attached to the way in which he had acquired it. But neither did his reputation glow with the pure light of delicacy and disinterest”
Her choice of husband and the contrasts; and the insights of her mind; to her having to be stepmother to the child; are all exquisitely portrayed in biting gentle satire
“The poor child is certainly more unhappy and less wel brought up than before I came here”
P83 the way that they fight about the cat and then the furnishings “my first wife liked these””oh if only she were still alive!”… and then the cat runs off
… and as the dog disappears, we start to see the story repeating itself in fact
“Mr Henley was very attentive to Miss C, a young lady from the country who is very fresh faced and cheerful as well as modest and not pretty in the slightest…all things considered, I was very pleased with myself and everyone else”
And when he declines honours and favours and she has to hold it together - just brilliant
March 9, 2026
I only read The Nobleman which is the first chapter of this book. It’s marketed as a romance and it delivers on the forbidden love trope but at its core it’s a brilliant critique of a dying world.
The heart of the story is the romance between Julie and Valaincourt which shows the New World. Julie is the hero here. She’s educated on modern novels and art which has given her a penetrating mind and a good heart. She represents authenticity, she values things like basic politeness and respect for age over some dusty title. Valaincourt on the other hand is the self made noble. His family earned their rank through merit which makes him "common" in the Baron’s eyes but superior in every way that actually matters. The romance is then a battleground: will Julie choose her father's prejudice or her own emotional truth?
To show us what's at stake, a control variable is thrown in and that's Julie's brother. He’s a noble who gambles with servants and marries a woman he doesn't love (and who is described quite cruelly as a hunchback) just to merge two coats of arms. This isn't a marriage, it's a transaction. It highlights the disgraceful and shameful behaviour that often hides behind a title. Ironically, the brother is said to have too much "greatness of soul" to think it necessary to love the person he marries. This frames the aristocratic version of romance as a cold, hollow ritual that values symbols over human connection.
The highlight for me was Julie’s escape. She literally used the portraits of her ancestors to bridge a mud puddle so she can elope. It’s the ultimate act of rebellion, she is literally walking over the faces of the past to reach her future. Her decision to elope is driven by a belief in the sacred rights of love, a moral authority she chooses over her father's barbaric rules.
The story wraps up with a beautifully subtle punchline, Julie’s sons are "not knights." In a world obsessed with labels, the greatest happy ending she can give her children is the freedom to be nothing but human.
The heart of the story is the romance between Julie and Valaincourt which shows the New World. Julie is the hero here. She’s educated on modern novels and art which has given her a penetrating mind and a good heart. She represents authenticity, she values things like basic politeness and respect for age over some dusty title. Valaincourt on the other hand is the self made noble. His family earned their rank through merit which makes him "common" in the Baron’s eyes but superior in every way that actually matters. The romance is then a battleground: will Julie choose her father's prejudice or her own emotional truth?
To show us what's at stake, a control variable is thrown in and that's Julie's brother. He’s a noble who gambles with servants and marries a woman he doesn't love (and who is described quite cruelly as a hunchback) just to merge two coats of arms. This isn't a marriage, it's a transaction. It highlights the disgraceful and shameful behaviour that often hides behind a title. Ironically, the brother is said to have too much "greatness of soul" to think it necessary to love the person he marries. This frames the aristocratic version of romance as a cold, hollow ritual that values symbols over human connection.
The highlight for me was Julie’s escape. She literally used the portraits of her ancestors to bridge a mud puddle so she can elope. It’s the ultimate act of rebellion, she is literally walking over the faces of the past to reach her future. Her decision to elope is driven by a belief in the sacred rights of love, a moral authority she chooses over her father's barbaric rules.
The story wraps up with a beautifully subtle punchline, Julie’s sons are "not knights." In a world obsessed with labels, the greatest happy ending she can give her children is the freedom to be nothing but human.
November 19, 2020
Clever rip on some Gothic themes.
February 8, 2016
I'm now sad that Isabelle de Charrière doesn't have a larger body of translated work. Her stories were clever and interesting, and not even a little formulaic. I never knew how a story was going to end up (if it did end up anywhere, since much of it was fragmented and unfinished) and the different styles made each story refreshing.
That said, I wasn't fond of some of the editorial decisions, such as omitting entire chunks of the stories (the worst being Constance's Story, which was originally written to give context to a character from a story the editors chose not to include) and leaving in first drafts of things when there were more complete drafts available. Why did I just read the same conversation twice? It was strange, not to mention distracting.
That said, I wasn't fond of some of the editorial decisions, such as omitting entire chunks of the stories (the worst being Constance's Story, which was originally written to give context to a character from a story the editors chose not to include) and leaving in first drafts of things when there were more complete drafts available. Why did I just read the same conversation twice? It was strange, not to mention distracting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews