Manon Lescaut (1893), inspired Italian composer Giacomo Puccini to compose the opera by the same name. Set in France and Louisiana in the early 18th century, more than a story about Manon, the story is about the blind devotion the hero, the Chevalier des Grieux, developed for his lover-the gorgeous young woman, Manon Lescaut. Of a noble wealthy family and with a fine education Des Grieux gives it all up when he meets Manon Lescaut. In Paris the young lovers enjoy a life of ups and downs because of financial pressures. While Des Grieux is content with living a simple life, Manon has an obsession with expensive taste and luxury exacerbated by a congenital fear of poverty. Manon Lescaut (1893), inspired Italian composer Giacomo Puccini to compose the opera by the same name. All the elements of a thriller -suspense, mystery, narrow escapes, action, intrigue, etc.- are all present, making the prose athletic, robust, taking the reader on a non-stop galloping ride from beginning to end.