The residents of a small pre-industrial Ohio town lead their lives amidst a backdrop of pervasive loneliness.

A man accidentally transforms himself into a donkey while trying to learn magic, turning his business trip to Greece into an odyssey of tribulation and spiritual growth.

Two sisters experience very different marriages, and one is saved from a disastrous liaison.

A young couple work through the details of negotiating a marriage contract.

A young man ventures out on his own and suffers the consequences of his pride and impulsiveness.

The story of a young woman who marries badly, told in several vignettes covering the remainder of her life.

A mysterious lawyer shows up in a town, opens a practice, and starts a newspaper.

A young man falls for an older woman, who introduces him to a friend in order to distract him.

A young woman with a miserly father falls in love with her cousin.

A young man tries to climb up the cutthroat Parisian social ladder during the Bourbon Restoration.

Two women write letters to tell each other about their lives and loves.

As a young woman and her husband try to make something of their printing business, her brother tries to find success as an author in Paris.