“A Woman of Thirty” (Une Femme de Trente Ans), is the story of a spirited woman during the 19th century. In “A Woman of Thirty,” Eugenie is the finest Balzac female character, radiant in generosity of her love. The story clung to my memory after first reading it at the age of seventeen. Eugenie perseveres amidst her own 19th century European society of pain and of limits on her aspirations. One of the lines of the story that has remained vividly in my mind was when Eugenie told Monsieur le President, “ I know what pleases you in me. Swear to leave me free during my whole life, to claim none of the rights which marriage will you over me, and my hand is yours.”

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