The Necklace and Other Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant

I like to call Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), ‘Le Roi Français de Contes’ – The French King of Short Tales.  His most popular short story is The Necklace (written in French in 1884 as La Parure), and continues to gain popularity among readers everywhere for the clever twist at the end of the tale, a style that M. Maupassant brilliantly adopted for his short stories

The day of the ball arrived. Mme Loisel was a great success.She was the prettiest of all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and full of joy. All the men noticed her, asked her name, and wanted to be presented.