In 1836, Émile de Girardin launched a daily paper called La Presse. To attract readers, he innovated by interspersing literary criticism and novels with political pieces. There, Balzac was to publish La Vieille Fille (An Old Maid), literature’s first serialised novel, a story published in several episodes with a corresponding need to pique the interest of readers with multiple plot twists.
Balzac’s serialised novels did not achieve the success anticipated. Granted, he did not adjust his style to the publication format and neglected, for instance, to deploy suspense effectively, such that Girardin suspended publication of his novel Les Paysans, replacing it with La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas.
The serialised novel quickly became an important format, and authors such as Eugène Sue were to build their reputation on this new type of writing. Les Mystères de Paris, a long novel exploring the Paris underworld, published between June 1842 and October 1843 in Le Journal des débats, met with great acclaim. Théophile Gautier asserted that ‘everyone has devoured Les Mystères de Paris, even people who cannot read: they simply get a willing porter with a bit of learning to recite it.’
