Fromont and Risler — Volume 2

The novel traces intertwined domestic lives of two married couples in a provincial-industrial milieu, contrasting the serene, devoted wife who devotes herself to family and social duties with a former playmate whose vanity, social ambition and petty jealousies drive her toward affectation and rivalry. Husbands are distracted by work and past passions, which deepens misunderstandings as women navigate salon society, fashion, and maternal roles. Social climbing, class prejudices, marital estrangement and the collision between genuine tenderness and calculated appearances unfold through scenes of dinners, lessons, and daily encounters, revealing how small humiliations and private resentments reshape friendships and households.