Lost Illusions

Illusions perdues—in English Lost Illusions—is a serial novel written by the French writer Honoré de Balzac. It consists of three parts starting in provincial France thereafter moving to Paris and finally returning to the provinces. The novel’s main character Lucien Chardon works as a journalist and his friend David Séchard is a printer. These were both professions with which Balzac himself had experience. Balzac had started a printing business in Paris in 1826. It became bankrupt in 1828. His experiences influenced his description of David Séchard’s working life.