Trapped in an unhappy marriage with a boorish, inattentive and socially ambitious husband, Julie de Chaverny enjoys a flirtatious dalliance with the elegant Major de Châteaufort. However, the sudden reappearance of an old admirer, M. Darcy, who has returned from Turkey with a tale of breathtaking derring-do and chivalry to add to his charms, reawakens in Julie a forgotten passion, and convinces her to pursue a rash and dangerous course, one that will have tragic consequences.

Though less well-known than other works by Mérimée, A Slight Misunderstanding is a masterpiece of psychological insight and a minutely observed social satire.

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'Mérimée's tales have gradually come to be considered perfect models of the narrative art, and we confess our own admiration for them is such that we feel like declaring it a capital offence in a young storyteller to put pen to paper without having read them and digested them.' Henry James

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Read an excerpt from A Slight Misunderstanding

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