A leaf of love

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A sheet of love (French Une page d'amour ) is a novel by Émile Zola from 1877 and at the same time the eighth part of the twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle . It was first published in sequels from December 11, 1877 to April 4, 1878 in the journal Le Bien public . A book was published by Charpentier in April 1878.

The central character of the novel is Hélène Grandjean, née Mouret, who is already known to the readership as the granddaughter of Adelaïde Fouque (= mother Didé) from the novel The Happiness of the Rougon Family .

In 1980 a film adaptation made in France was released.

action

Genealogical family tree for Ein Blatt Liebe from 1878

The action takes place from 1854 to 1855. At the beginning of the novel, Hélène has been a widow for 18 months. Her husband fell ill immediately after they arrived in Paris and died eight days later. Hélène lives in the Paris district of Passy with her 11-year-old daughter Jeanne . Mother and daughter have hardly left the apartment since then. You almost only know the city from the view from your windows.

The night the action started, Jeanne fell into an epileptic cramp. Hélène panicked and ran out into the street to find a doctor. She asks her neighbor, Dr. Deberle, who happens to be a doctor, for help. He treats the child. A few days later, Hélène visits him to thank him. She is accepted into his circle of acquaintances, meets his wife Juliette and some friends of the house. Among them is Mr. Malignon, an urbane man who is experienced in dealing with women. Hélène's only friends are the two former friends of her late husband, who are stepbrothers: the Abbé Jouve, who works in the Church of Passy, ​​and Mr Rambaud, a merchant. At the suggestion of the Abbé, Hélène takes care of poor old mother Fétu. At her place she meets Doctor Deberle. Mother Fétu tries to pair them up. On a later visit, she manages that the two are alone for a while.

Juliette is giving a party for the neighborhood kids. At this party, Doctor Deberle Héléne passionately confesses his love. Hélène then fled to her apartment.

In May, Hélène and Jeanne regularly go to mass, where they meet Juliette. Doctor Deberle picks up his wife more often after mass. He's still waiting in front of the church when Juliette went to the cure. The Abbé Jouve suggests Hélène marry Rambaud, which she refuses.

Jeanne becomes seriously ill. She is cared for by her mother and Doctor Deberle for three weeks. At a critical stage, the doctor saves the child by applying leeches . Hélène confesses her love to Deberle. In the following months, the doctor and the mother spend a lot of time together. This awakens the child's jealousy . Jeanne's symptoms reappear as soon as Deberle is present.

Hélène happens to learn that Malignon and Juliette are secretly dating. Mother Fétu tells her that Malignon has rented some rooms in her house. She suspects that Malignon and Juliette want to meet there. Héléne visits mother Fétu to bring her a pair of shoes. In truth, she wants to inspect the rooms.

The next day, Hélène wants to warn Juliette and prevent her from committing adultery, but she meets a theater rehearsal in the Deberles' house and has no opportunity to speak to Juliette in private. She throws an anonymous letter in the Deberles' mailbox, asking the doctor to come to that address at a certain time. Immediately before that, Hélène felt guilty. She rushes to that address and warns Juliette and Malignon, who are fleeing down the back stairs. When Doctor Deberle appears, he believes in a rendezvous arranged by Hélène. Hélène surrenders to him. Jeanne, left alone by her mother, angry and jealous, opens her window and stretches her arms out into the cold rain. She falls into lethargy, believes that her mother no longer loves her and will not return to her. This is how her mother finds her hours later.

Jeanne falls ill with tuberculosis . She happily accepts the suggestion of her old family doctor to take a cure in Italy until she learns that the Deberles will also be traveling to Italy. Hélène is so in love that she does not realize the severity of her daughter's illness for a long time. After the slow and painful death of Jeanne, Mrs Deberle organized the funeral service. Your husband is absent that day. Two years after Jeanne's death, Hélène married Mr Rambaud and went to Marseille with him .

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