http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/10/the_clasp_by_sloane_crosley_reviewed.html

In 1884, the French writer Guy de Maupassant—a rakish 1-percenter who went mad from syphilis—produced what some consider the world’s most perfect short story. Vivacious young Mathilde borrows a necklace from a wealthy friend in order to go to a party. She is poor but charmant; on the way home she loses the pendant; she and her husband secretly replace it and spend the rest of their youth toiling to pay off their debt. Ten years pass, and Mathilde reveals to her friend the truth of what happened. The friend is horrified—the jewelry was fake all along, and Mathilde has squandered her life for nothing. With “The Necklace,” de Maupassant distilled the sorrows of time, class, and fate into a single, flawless teardrop.