Red and black

A story full of infidelity, manipulation and the pursuit of a higher social status, which ends under the guillotine.

The hero of this psychological novel, Julien Sorel, a carpenter's son, wants to achieve wealth and respectability at any cost. In his time, the most suitable means of advancing his career is the black priestly cassock, not the dazzling red of a Napoleonic uniform, as it once was.
Julien is the epitome of a calculating and ambitious man who uses hypocrisy, pretence and the infatuation of noblewomen to achieve his goals.