Paul ja Virginia

by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

"Paul ja Virginia" by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre is a novel published in 1788. Set on the island of Mauritius under French rule, it tells the story of two childhood friends raised together by their single mothers in natural isolation. As they grow into adolescence, romantic feelings emerge between them. When Virginie is sent to France to claim an inheritance, their idyllic world faces disruption. Written on the eve of the French Revolution, this tale explores the corruption of natural innocence by artificial society.