This romantic novel is by Marie-Madelaine Pioche de Lavergne, Comtesse de La Fayette. It was first published in 1678. The Princess of Cleves is married to the Prince of Cleves, who loves her but whom she doesn't love. She loves the Duc de Nemours and he loves her, but honour prevents her doing anything about it. Her husband believes she's betrayed him and dies of grief. The novel then ends quite abruptly - the Duc de Nemours gets over it, and she retires to a nunnery. I think.
I wish I knew more about French history. It was fascinating to read about the events of the time from this perspective, as the story spends quite a lot of time describing French politics. Some of the characters I recognised from other historical novels (Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett).
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