Consuelo

Consuelo was first published serially between 1842–1843 in La Revue Indépendante, a periodical founded by Sand, Pierre Leroux and Louis Viardot. The character of Consuelo was modeled after Viardot's wife, Pauline, who was a well-known opera singer and a good friend of George Sand. This novel, considered by some to be Sand's masterpiece, tells the story of Consuelo, a plain but virtuous woman of gypsy origins, who rises to operatic fame and becomes a great prima donna in Venice. The story is filled with love, adventure, sorrow and sacrifice, as every great romance should be!