Serge Panine — Complete
1880
The most powerful woman in Paris has built an empire from nothing, but wealth cannot buy her the one thing she craves: a child. Madame Desvarennes rules her flour kingdom with iron resolve, yet she returns each night to an empty house haunted by regret. When she adopts young Jeanne, she believes her loneliness is finally answered, but fate has sharper designs. Into her carefully constructed world walks Prince Serge Panine, charming and dangerous, whose arrival sets aflame the hearts of not one but two women in her household. As rivalries form and secrets surface, this formidable businesswoman must confront the limits of her power when love and family loyalty collide. Georges Ohnet was the master of the French serialized novel, and Serge Panine delivers every element that made them irresistible: social ambition, forbidden desire, and the ruthless world of Parisian high society where a woman's worth is measured in both francs and influence.
Editions
X-Ray
“Thousands of stars were twinkling in the sky, and the eyes of Micheline and Pierre were lifted toward the dark blue heavens seeking vaguely for the star which presided over their destiny. She, to know whether her life would be the long poem of love of which she dreamed;””
— Georges Ohnet
“If Pierre had spoken like that before going away, who knows? Micheline's feelings might have been quickened. No doubt she would have loved him. It would have come naturally. But Pierre had kept the secret of his passion for the young girl to himself. It was only despair, and the thought of losing her, that made him give vent to his feelings now.””
— Georges Ohnet
