The Misfortune of Monsieur Fraque

by Paul Alexis, Richard Robinson (Translator)

The Misfortune of Monsieur Fraque by Paul Alexis (Lʼinfortune de Monsieur Fraque in French) is a short story, or novella, that was first published in 1880.

Paul Alexisʼ touch is fine, his style is deft. He is like an impressionist painter in words. This book is elegantly written, nostalgic, and masterful. If it werenʼt for the Naturalist moniker that often gets attached to him – by literary historians – one might almost call him Romantic. The last thing that comes to mind when reading him and The Misfortune of Monsieur Fraque in particular, because their styles are, although similar, so very different – is Émile Zola, who was his friend and mentor and the founder of Naturalism.

Not very well known in the English-speaking world, nor even in the French one, – when Paul Alexis is known, it is mostly as the official biographer of Zola. This story is similar in style to two other of his novellas, The End of Lucie Pellegrin and A Platonic Love,.

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1880

About the author

Antoine Joseph Paul Alexis, French author and journalist.

Reviews

[Richard Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book blurb says it all mostly. Although it probably should have been entitled "The Marital Misfortune of Monsieur Fraque," for that is the real misfortune of the monsieur, his marriage. As his fiancée said to him, "a poor de Grandval did not marry a rich Fraque." He should have taken the message to heart, instead, he tried to prove her wrong.