France | Lecturia

Guy de Maupassant: The Dowry

“The Dowry” (1884), a short story by Guy de Maupassant, tells the story of Simon Lebrumet, a notary who marries Juanita Cordier in the village of Boutigny-le-Revours. The marriage is no surprise to anyone, for Lebrumet needs money to buy a notary’s office and Juanita has a dowry of three hundred thousand francs. He is a lovely man, and she is an attractive but somewhat provincial young woman. The first days of their marriage are full of sweetness and passion, with Lebrumet showing himself as a tender and delicate husband. The couple plans a trip to Paris to enjoy their honeymoon, taking the dowry to pay the notary’s fee.

Guy de Maupassant: A Mother of Monsters

In “The Mother of Monsters,” a story by Guy de Maupassant, a man recounts a creepy tale while walking along the beach, where he spots an elegant and enigmatic woman. Years before, during a visit to the countryside, his friend took him to meet a robust and sinister woman residing in an idyllic country house. Nicknamed “Devil,” this woman was infamous in the area for a horrifying reason: all her children were born with monstrous deformities. Infused with an atmosphere of mystery and terror, the story gradually unveils the dreadful secret of the “Mother of Monsters.”