Little What's-His-Name ("Le Petit Chose") - To Which Is Added La Belle-Nivernaise #265191

Little What's-His-Name (Le Petit Chose) Daudet's first published, though not his first written, novel, appeared in 1868, but had been begun in Provence shortly after the death of the Duc de Morny in 1865 had released him from his slight political ties. The first and better part was composed in that Southern France it describes so charmingly; the second part was completed in Paris. The whole book seems to bear the impress of the circumstances under which it was written. It ends with a happy marriage, and Daudet had just found a nobly sympathetic helpmeet. It is full of the milk of human kindness, and its author had had little but generous treatment since the favor of the Empress Eugénie had secured him his political sinecure. Its first chapters form one of the most touching of autobiographies, and his recent residence in Provence had freshened Daudet's recollections of his childhood.