The Misfortune of Monsieur Fraque

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

Paul Alexis' 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 weren't 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.