Bel-Ami is the second novel by French author Guy de Maupassant, published in 1885; an English translation titled Bel Ami, or, The History of a Scoundrel: A Novel first appeared in 1903.
Bel-Ami
Still life with plaster statuette, a rose and two novels by Vincent van Gogh (Kröller-Müller Museum)
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms.
Photograph by Nadar
Guy de Maupassant aged 7
Guy de Maupassant and his mother, Laure
His father, Gustave de Maupassant, by Hippolyte Bellangé