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"They were so absorbed in their plotting that they did not hear Boule de Suif return. But the Comte's whispered 'shh!' made them all look up. There she was. A sudden silence fell..."

A group of wealthy passengers on a coach are side-eyeing a sex worker on board, who goes by the name "Boule de Suif" (Ball of Fat). But when she shares her food with everyone, the mood changes and the passengers all turn in for the night at an inn in good spirits. However, the next morning, they find that a Prussian officier is refusing to let them continue their journey until he's had his way with Boule de Suif. She refuses. But as the days passes, the other passengers grow more and more impatient.

'Boule de Suif' is a great study of French society and moral attitudes in the late 1800s' France, and indeed, it makes you wonder what would be different today.

Guy de Maupassant (1850 – 1893) was a French author and one of the fathers of the modern short story. His mother, Laure Le Poittevin, was an extremely well-read woman and introduced him to literature at a young age. Maupassant wrote six novels and over 300 short stories, the first and most famous being 'Boule de Suif' (1880).