Worlds Apart

by Martha Bibescu

Worlds Apart is a novel written by Princess Marthe Bibesco. The story is set in the early 20th century and revolves around the life of a young woman named Helene who is torn between her love for two men from different worlds. Helene is the daughter of a wealthy Parisian family and is engaged to a French aristocrat, but she falls in love with a Romanian prince who is visiting Paris. As she struggles to choose between the two men, Helene must also navigate the social and cultural differences between their worlds.The novel explores themes of love, class, and identity as Helene tries to find her place in a rapidly changing world. It also provides a glimpse into the lives of the European elite during a time of political upheaval and social change. Princess Bibesco's writing is elegant and evocative, transporting the reader to a bygone era of glamour and romance.Overall, Worlds Apart is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to fans of historical fiction and romance.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

284 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2005

About the author

Martha Bibescu (also known as the Princess Marthe Bibesco) was a Romanian-French writer of the Belle Époque. Bibesco's papers are at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Born Marta Lucia Lahovary (also spelled Lahovari) in Bucharest as the third child of Ioan Lahovary and Princess Emma Mavrocordat, Marthe spent her childhood at the Lahovary family estates in Balotești and the fashionable French sea-resort of Biarritz. On her first introduction into society, in 1900, she met Crown Prince Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Romanian throne, but after a secret engagement of one year, Marthe married at seventeen Prince George III Valentin Bibescu (Bibesco), scion of one of the country's prestigious aristocratic families. I stepped onto the European stage through the grand door, she wrote on her wedding day. Her father, who had been educated in France, held the post of minister of the Kingdom of Romania in Paris and, later, that of minister of foreign affairs of Romania.

Fluent in French at an early age (even before she could speak Romanian), Marthe spent the first years of her marriage under the tutelage of her mother-in-law, Princess Valentine Bibesco (née countess Riquet de Caraman-Chimay), who saw to it that the extensive education in European history and literature Marthe already had was reinforced. An old peasant woman, Baba Uța [Outza], saw to it that she was also well-versed in Romanian folk traditions and tales. Meanwhile, her husband, George, was chasing fast cars and other women, but adding to the family fortune at the same time.