Ursula novel is one of the pillars of the Scenes of Provincial Life section of Honoré de Balzacs story cycle The Human Comedy. Through a series of tragedies and coincidences, a kind and pious teenager named Ursula has been taken in by an octogenarian wealthy doctor, Denis Minoret.
In this book Balzac examines the manners and morals in the French provinces and penetratingly depicts the small-mindedness, avarice, and envy of the provincial lower middle classes. In Ursula, no limitations based on morality or decency will hold these people back in their effort to acquire wealth and influence.
