Louis Couperus 
Small Souls 

Small Souls is the first novel in the tetralogy The Books of the Small Souls from famed Dutch writer Louis Couperus. The series follows the gradual disintegration of the once-powerful Van Lowe clan. In the scene-setting first novel, daughter Constance van der Welcke returns to the family after eloping against their wishes and tries to re-establish her place in the pecking order.