Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright. Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature, on account of his keen observation of detail and his multifaceted characters. He influenced many famous authors, including Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Jack Kerouac and Henry James.

The Vicar of Tours is an 1832 novella that tells the story of the Abbé François Birotteau and the Abbé Hyacinthe Troubert, priests at Tours, who have separate lodgings in the house of Sophie Gamard. Birotteau is a gentle, introspective type while Troubert is a careerist driven by ambition. Balzac brilliantly portrays the psychological warfare that the three characters wage among each other.