La Becquée

by René Boylesve

"La Becquée" by René Boylesve is a largely autobiographical novel published in 1901. A five-year-old boy narrates life on his great-aunt Félicie's estate in Touraine during the 1870s. The family lives off Félicie's hospitality, receiving "la becquée"—being fed and housed. But Félicie is dying, and her relatives worry selfishly about their inheritance rather than her health. She initiates young Riquet into estate management, hoping to secure the land's future while observing the petit bourgeois manners around her.