1407 The Princess of Cleves, by Madame de Lafayette translated by Nancy Mitford (read 5 Sept 1976) This was first published in March 1678, which makes it one of the earliest novels ever written. It tells quite a complex little story laid in the years 1558 et seq. King Henry II's death from an accident in the lists is an event in the story. I read it because W. Somerset Maugham in his book on the 10 greatest novels said that any Frenchman of education, making a list of the world's 10 greatest novels would include it as one of them. And, he said, rightly so, since the story is touching and persuasive, the characters are well and subtly drawn, it is written with distinction and it is commendably brief. I wondered whether Nancy Mitford's translation made it so readable. ( )

A 17th century historical fiction that is purported to be the first of its kind. ( )

It really isn't fair to assign a star-rating to this book, since the purpose of reading it was research, and to that end it was excellent. ( )

Just for the record: I read a downloadable version of this book, but liked this cover and will try to locate a copy for my personal library. ( )

A classic to understand the birth of the antagonism : social laws / heart's desires in the novel... What a big issue! The birth of a new and intemporal literary form.