The Lost Illusions is a serial novel written by Honoré de Balzac. It consists of three parts, starting in provincial France, thereafter moving to Paris, and finally returning to the provinces. The novel is unique among the novels and short stories of La Comédie humaine by virtue of the even-handedness with which it treats both geographical dimensions of French social life.
The Two Poets
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Eve and David

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.