La Peau de chagrin
On 28 February 1832 Hańska posted a letter from Odessa with no return address. In it, she praised Balzac for his work, but scolded him for the negative portrayal of women in "La Peau de chagrin". She urged a return to the glowing representations in his earlier novels, and signed enigmatically: "L'Étrangère" ("The Stranger" or "The Foreigner"). Balzac was intrigued by the letter; he took out a personal advertisement in the "Gazette de France" indicating his receipt of an anonymous letter and expressing regret for being unable to reply. She probably never saw this notice.