Global InformationMademoiselle Cloque information
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| Author | René Boylesve |
|---|---|
| Original title | Mademoiselle Cloque |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Moeurs Novel |
Publication date | 1899 |
| Pages | 416 |
| Preceded by | Le Parfum des îles Borromées (1898) |
| Followed by | La Becquée (1901) |
Mademoiselle Cloque (English free translation: Miss Cloque) is a French novel of manners by René Boylesve published in 1899.
The fifth novel of René Boylesve, tells against the backdrop of a religious quarrel in Tours in the 1880s, the last three years of the life of an idealistic and chivalrous old lady, who ardently wishes the reconstruction of a large basilica dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. Supporting her principles, she goes so far as to refuse her niece a beautiful marriage with the son of a supporter of the opposing cause, who campaigns for the building of a modest church; However, this last option ends up prevailing at the end of clashes where politics, religion and particular interests are intimately mixed.
Taking as its argument the "war of the basilicas", a real episode in the history of Tours, and therefore fitting more secondarily in the Moeurs historical novel, the story is above all a study of morals on the part of the bourgeois and religious society of Tours in the 19th century as well as a portrait gallery. It traces the lost battle of idealism against realism, a recurring theme for the author.