Guy de Maupassant

"The Necklace" ("La Parure") tells the story of Mathilde Loisel, who borrows a diamond necklace to attend a ball and loses it, then spends years repaying debts to replace it—only to discover the original was a fake. The story's devastating final twist has made it one of the most anthologized short stories in world literature.

Gustave Flaubert was Maupassant's most important literary mentor; Flaubert was a friend of Maupassant's mother and rigorously trained the young writer in precise, economical prose. Flaubert introduced Maupassant to leading figures in French literary circles including Émile Zola and Ivan Turgenev.

"The Horla" (1887) is a psychological horror story narrated by a man who becomes convinced an invisible entity is gradually draining his life force and will. The story is widely considered an early masterpiece of psychological horror and can be read as a study of madness or as genuine supernatural fiction.

Maupassant suffered from syphilis, which led to progressive mental deterioration in his final years. He attempted suicide in 1892 and was placed in a private asylum in Passy, Paris, where he died the following year at the age of 42.