Footnotes and Tangents

Footnotes and Tangents

Marginalia

Mademoiselle Bourienne

Marya Bolkonskaya's companion

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Simon Haisell
Jan 11, 2024
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BOOK ONE

Part One

Chapter 22

Marya’s companion at Ball Hills. This French lady warns Marya of her father’s ill temper. Marya reproves her, saying she doesn’t want anyone to “judge” her father in this way.

Chapter 23

Marya’s French companion is seemingly always there and always smiling. Or crying, if the moment requires it.

Chapter 24

The old prince tells her that Andrei is another fan of Napoleon. The French lady insists she is not a Bonapartist.

Chapter 25

When Andrei leaves Bald Hills, we learn that he does not like Mademoiselle Bourienne, but that his father does. And Marya tells us that the Bolkonskys took her in as an orphan; she is very nice and kind and reads to Nikolai in the evenings.

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