Paul and Virginia

First published in 1788, this enjoyed phenomenal success in France and throughout the world. Set on the tropical island of Mauritius, it tells the story of the idyllic childhood of two children of French parentage, their growing love and awakening sexual feelings in adolescence, and their subsequent separation and untimely deaths. Combining a thoroughgoing naivety with exoticism, minute observation of nature and substantive criticism of life, Paul and Virginia exercised a far-reaching influence on later Romantic literature. It holds a special place among serious European novels.