The groundbreaking novel that inspired Verdi’s opera La Traviata, Camille, is one of the greatest love stories of all time. Camille tells the story of Marguerite Gautier, the most beautiful, brazen, and expensive courtesan in all of Paris. Known to all as “the Lady of the Camellias” because she is never seen without her favorite flowers, she leads a glittering life of endless parties and aristocratic balls, with the richest men in France flocking to her boudoir to lay their fortunes at her feet. Their love was a sensation, a scandal, and to some, a sin. But despite having many lovers, she has never really loved—until she meets Armand Duval, young, handsome, and from a lower social class, and yet hopelessly in love with Marguerite. Their story is as old as time, and timeless as love itself. That is the bare-bones plot of ''Camille,'' the Alexandre Dumas fils novel that has been translated into, among other things, a successful opera, Verdi's ''Traviata,'' a classic film, ''Camille,'' starring Greta Garbo, and a lush movie musical, Moulin Rouge. ALEXANDRE DUMAS, fils (1824–1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel, La Dame aux Camélias which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's opera, La Traviata, as well as numerous stage and film productions, usually titled Camille in English-language versions. Dumas, fils (French for 'son') was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père (French for 'father'), author of The Three Musketeers. Dumas, fils was admitted to the Académie française (French Academy) in 1874 and awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) in 1894.