Princess Napraxine

On the sunlit Riviera, Princess Nadège Napraxine turns luxury into a weapon of dissatisfaction, mocking the very villa she has long coveted and exposing the restless vanity beneath her brilliance. At La Jacquemerille, amid sea light, flowers, and elegant wit, she spars with Lady Brancepeth and the devoted Ralph Geraldine, while her husband Prince Napraxine drifts amiably through the glittering domestic triangle. Their polished conversation reveals a world of privilege haunted by boredom, irony, and the impossible desire to escape society even while remaining enthralled by it. Elsewhere in this refined social world, Count Othmar, rich beyond need yet starved for trust, is drawn into a deeper melancholy by his obsession with the cool, untouchable Princess. But his attention is soon captured by Yseulte de Valogne, a quiet, beautiful young aristocrat whose likely fate is the convent. Her tender Provençal Noël exposes the cruel economics of rank, where a noble girl's gifts can be sacrificed for lack of a dowry. Through sparkling dialogue and emotional restraint, the novel sharpens its satire of wealth, power, and the loneliness hidden beneath elegance. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.