4 h 34 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the affair you never call love becomes the one thing you cannot bear to lose?
In Paris before the First World War, Léa de Lonval shares a comfortable, private life with Fred Peloux, whom she calls Chéri. She is a wealthy courtesan of forty-nine. He is beautiful, spoiled and twenty-five. They have been lovers for six years, yet neither calls their bond love.
Then Charlotte Peloux arranges her son's marriage to Edmée, a young woman who hopes to be truly loved. Money and standing shape the match. As the wedding approaches, Chéri grows restless, and Léa's composure comes under strain. Colette explores what happens when habit and desire meet the pressure of age.
What you’ll discover
- A room full of feeling Enter Léa's bedroom, where pale silks, scent and soft light frame a comfortable affair.
- A proud woman's composure Meet a practical, generous woman facing the age when her world expects her to withdraw.
- Beauty without self-knowledge Follow Chéri's charm and moods as he struggles to understand his own heart.
- Marriage as a bargain Watch Charlotte and Marie-Laure plan a match while Edmée hopes for love.
- Small scenes, deep feeling Discover how Colette uses rooms, objects and restraint to bring private emotions close.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like short, precise novels about desire, money and time, and anyone curious about Paris before 1914. If you want fast plots or clear heroes and villains, you may find its small, inward drama less satisfying.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A six-year affair that feels like habit
- Two old rivals plan a young man's future
- The marriage ends the arrangement
- Absence shows what each had really lost
- Desire, age and power between two people
- How Colette tells it: objects, rooms and restraint
Who’s who
- Léa de LonvalA wealthy courtesan of forty-nine, proud, practical and generous, who has kept Chéri as her lover for six years and prides herself on her composure.
- Fred Peloux, called ChériA beautiful, spoiled young man of twenty-five, used to being cared for, moody and charming, who does not know his own heart.
- Charlotte PelouxChéri's mother, a former courtesan, loud and worldly, who arranges her son's marriage for money and standing.
- EdméeA young, sincere girl of eighteen with a large dowry, chosen to be Chéri's wife, who hopes to be truly loved.
- Marie-LaureEdmée's mother, another woman of the demimonde, who wants a good match for her daughter and bargains with Charlotte.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Chéri
by Colette· 1920
An arranged marriage unsettles a courtesan’s affair with a younger man.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A six-year affair that feels like habit
The novel opens in Léa's bedroom in Paris. It is a room of pale silks, scent and soft light, and Chéri lies in it as if it were his own home. He is twenty-five, very handsome, and used to being looked after. Léa is forty-nine, rich from her years as one of the city's best-known courtesans, and she keeps her beauty with care and discipline.
Their affair began when Chéri was still a boy of about nineteen. Léa knew his mother and had known him as a child. What began as a favor to a friend became a long and comfortable arrangement. Chéri comes and goes as he likes. He sulks, teases and demands. Léa scolds him in a half-joking, motherly way and gives him pleasure, pearls and peace.
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The author
Colette
1873–1954 · French novelist
Colette was a French novelist born in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye in 1873. She later lived in Paris, where she died in 1954. Her novels include Chéri, published in 1920, and The Ripening Seed, published in 1923. She also wrote Sido, published in 1930, and worked as a journalist and stage performer.
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What is Chéri by Colette about?
It is about the long affair between Léa de Lonval, an aging courtesan, and a young man she calls Chéri. When his mother arranges his marriage, the pair must face what the relationship has meant.
What does the title Chéri mean?
Chéri is French for darling, in the masculine form. It is the pet name Léa uses for Fred Peloux, and it becomes the name by which almost everyone in the book knows him.
When was Chéri written and is it a true story?
Colette published it in 1920. It is fiction, but it draws on the Paris world she knew well, including courtesans, music halls and the social customs of the years before the First World War.
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