But there is no happy ending. Amélie seems to be pining for something. One day, René finds she has gone, leaving a letter saying she wants to become a nun but giving no explanation why. René goes to witness her initiation ceremony where she reveals she has joined the convent because she wants to overcome her incestuous love for him. Devastated by this confession, René decides to leave Europe forever and travel to America. After spending some time with the Indians, he receives a letter announcing his sister's death. The novella concludes by revealing shortly after René told his tale, he was killed in a battle between the Natchez and the French. (Note: according to the version in "Les Natchez", the action of the story takes place in the 1720s). As the title suggests, there are numerous autobiographical elements in the book, which draws extensively on Chateaubriand's memories of his own childhood in Brittany and his travels in North America in 1791. Chateaubriand was criticised for his use of the theme of incest and there is no evidence that his sister Lucile had any such passion for him in real life. "René" proved an immense inspiration to young Romantics who felt it was the perfect expression of the "mal du siècle" their generation experienced. Notable admirers included Berlioz and Alfred de Musset. Its fame reached abroad; René's travels through Europe were imitated by Lord Byron in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". Both René and Harold are restless outsiders with an aristocratic contempt for the banality of the world. Like Goethe with "Werther", in later years, Chateaubriand came to resent the popularity of his early work. As he wrote in his memoirs: