4 h 6 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 6 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the people meant to keep a trusting girl safe help lead her into danger?
Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Temple loves her parents and wants to be good. At her boarding school in Chichester, she has little knowledge of the world beyond it. Then Montraville, a vain, impulsive young army officer, notices her at church. Mademoiselle La Rue, a calculating teacher, helps bring them together.
In Susanna Rowson's short novel, Charlotte faces a painful pull between affection for her parents and the officer who wants to win her. Seduction, betrayal and lost innocence shape this tale of warning. Rowson speaks directly to you along the way, asking who deserves blame—and refusing to place it all on the girl.
What you’ll discover
- A trusting heart Meet a girl whose wish to do right offers little protection against others' schemes.
- Love against duty Follow Charlotte as her growing acquaintance with Montraville tests her loyalty to her parents.
- Safety in question Look behind the school gates, where reputation matters more to Madame Du Pont than watchfulness.
- A storyteller beside you Hear Rowson pause the action to question, comment and urge her readers to learn.
- Blame beyond the girl Explore a tale that weighs Charlotte's choices alongside the pressures and failures of those around her.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy early novels with strong narrators, family drama, tales of seduction and its consequences, and eighteenth-century moral debates will love this book.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Sunday walk in Chichester starts everything
- Charlotte comes from a home built on kindness
- A scheming teacher talks a girl out of caution
- Montraville knows he cannot marry yet keeps going
- At home, parents grieve while the ship sails
- In New York Charlotte is alone and Montraville moves on
- The book asks readers to pity the fallen
- A talkative narrator, letters and warnings
Who’s who
- Charlotte TempleA kind, sheltered schoolgirl of fifteen who loves her parents but cannot say no to the soldier who pursues her.
- MontravilleA young lieutenant who is generous but impulsive, and who wants Charlotte without ever deciding what he owes her.
- BelcourMontraville's fellow officer, a selfish pleasure seeker who pushes his friend on and then schemes to win Charlotte for himself.
- Mademoiselle La RueA French teacher at the school who wants a life of pleasure and persuades Charlotte to meet Montraville.
- Mr. and Mrs. TempleCharlotte's loving parents, a gentle, generous couple who want only her safety and her happiness.
- Mr. EldridgeMrs. Temple's father, a retired sailor who lost most of his family to a cruel creditor and dotes on his granddaughter.
- Mrs. BeauchampThe daughter of Colonel Crayton, a warm, brave woman who offers Charlotte friendship when others will not.
- Julia FranklinA lively and wealthy young woman in New York who falls in love with Montraville.
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Charlotte Temple
by Mrs. Rowson · 1791
A soldier hands a schoolgirl a letter, and a quiet Sunday walk in Chichester starts her ruin.
Medium level2–5 hours to readDeutsch
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In short
Would you follow a stranger into the dark because he writes you a kind letter? On a Sunday afternoon in Chichester, two army officers, Montraville and Belcour, watch the ladies of the town come home from church.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Sunday walk in Chichester starts everything
The book opens with a preface in which the author says the story is true. An old lady who knew Charlotte told it to her, and she has only changed the names and places. She writes for young, thoughtless women, and for any parent who fears for a daughter.
Then the story begins at once. Montraville and Belcour stop at Chichester for dinner on their way to Portsmouth. Because it is Sunday, they stroll out to watch the ladies come home from church. Madame Du Pont leads her school down from the church, and the young soldiers take off their hats. A tall girl glances at Montraville and blushes. He once danced with her at a ball, when he thought her only a pretty child. Now she is fifteen, and his vanity tells him the blush was meant for him.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1791
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 2 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Rowson, Susanna. Charlotte Temple. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/charlotte-temple.
Rowson, S. (2026). Charlotte Temple. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/charlotte-temple (Original work published 1791)
Rowson, Susanna. Charlotte Temple. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/charlotte-temple.
@book{rowson2026charlotte,
author = {Rowson, Susanna},
title = {Charlotte Temple},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/charlotte-temple},
note = {First published 1791}
}
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What is Charlotte Temple about?
It tells of a young English schoolgirl who leaves her school with a soldier and sails to America. Abandoned there, she finds one friend in Mrs. Beauchamp. The book follows how persuasion, money and loneliness shape her fate.
Is Charlotte Temple a true story?
The author says in her preface that it rests on a real case told to her by an old lady, with the names and places changed. Readers have long debated how much is fact, so it is best read as a tale based on a rumour.
Who is Mademoiselle La Rue in Charlotte Temple?
She is the French teacher at Madame Du Pont's school. She takes bribes, urges Charlotte to read Montraville's letter, and goes with Belcour to America. She later marries Colonel Crayton and becomes Mrs. Crayton.
The author
Susanna Rowson
1762–1824 · English-born American novelist
Susanna Rowson (1762–1824) was an English-born American novelist, playwright, poet, actress, and teacher. She was born in Portsmouth, England, and lived in England and the United States. Her novel Charlotte Temple was first published in 1791. She opened a school for girls in 1797 and died in Boston in 1824.
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