 Many critics of the time , though , were positive : a review in Le Journal des femmes proclaimed that Balzac 's eye " penetrates everywhere , like a cunning serpent , to probe women 's most intimate secrets " . Another review , in La Revue du théâtre , praised his " admirable technique of details " . The many reviews , positive and negative , were evidence of the book 's popularity and success . One publisher 's critique dismissed Balzac as a " boudoir writer " , although it predicted for him " a brief career , but a glorious and enviable one " . 
