The story revolves round the angelic and mysterious hermaphrodite Seraphita who seems to inspire love in all she meets. The battle for her affection leads Wilf and Minna past earthly knowledge and into the deeper mysteries of life. Set against the rugged landscape of 18th century Norway, Seraphita is the most unusual and bizarre novel in Balzac's Comedie Humaine. AUTHOR: Honore Balzac (1799-1850) studied law but in 1819 he abandons his legal studies and begins writing . He was a prolific author and in 1839 he begins to think of La Comedie humaine, a grandiose structure which will bring together all the novels he has written and many which he is contemplating for the future. Dedalus published two of the most unusual books in La Comedie humaine, both written in 1834, Seraphita (which includes Louis Lambert and The Exiles) and The Quest of the Absolute.
