This is the first English translation this century of the Goncort brothers' work Sister Philomene, the study of a nun who finds herself falling in love with a young student doctor at a Paris hospital. The brothers Edmond (1822-1896) and Jules (1830-70) de Goncourt were among the leading literary figures of 19th century France. They began their careers as historians and art critics, but became known as the founders of the French realist movement, the roman documentaire. Their Journals and the novel Germinie Lacerteux have also been translated into English.