Boule de Suif

The Franco-Prussian War is in full swing. From Rouen captured by the Germans, ten completely different passengers are forced to flee on a stagecoach. Among them—respectable bourgeois people, pious nuns, and a girl of easy virtue nicknamed “Fluff.” Despite social inequality, the fellow passengers find common ground and even start to get along quite well. However, a stop for lodging on Prussian territory puts everything in its place, revealing each passenger’s true face in all its glory: the mercenariness and hypocrisy of noble gentlemen, and the sincerity, openness, and selflessness of the girl with a questionable reputation—but a big heart.

“Fluff” is Guy de Maupassant’s brilliant debut, bringing him instant fame. Flaubert called the tale a masterpiece.

A dramatic, ironic, and surprisingly relevant story about war, morals, and true nobility—read brilliantly by actress Viktoria Isakova—prompting the reader to rethink their usual assumptions about people and their actions.