The complete online text of The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts by Honoré de Balzac.

Had Balzac been a less masterful novelist, the disreputably profligate fraud in him might have overwhelmed his artistry. Still, the other Balzac, the artist, is tainted by his well-earned reputation for what has been called artistic license or dishonesty...

The French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was the first writer to use fiction to convey the total social scene prevailing within one country at a particular period in its history. Commonly regarded as the founder of social realism, he also...

"Couldn't they have settled all this Friday?" asked an exasperated Tom Brokaw yesterday on NBC. After all the hype leading up to the beginning of the trial of the century, it was somewhat amusing to see the drama disintegrate on national television. Yesterday's...

Dorina Paritsky was 10 years old when her parents first applied for -- and were refused -- permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union to Israel. Yesterday, 11 years later, Dorina flew from Moscow to Vienna on the first stage of a journey to...