5 h 4 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 romance you chase leads to a quiet inn where charm hides a deadly trap?
Richard Beckett travels towards Paris with money, good manners and little experience. A mysterious young Frenchwoman catches his eye, and love at first sight draws him onward. The courteous Marquis d'Harmonville offers guidance but keeps much to himself. Beckett wants romance and adventure; he has little sense of how easily others can turn those wishes against him.
His pursuit brings him to the Dragon Volant, a country inn that seems a comfortable stop. The conversation is pleasant, the wine is good, and the woman seems to favour him. Yet disguise and secret watchers surround his adventure. In Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's short Gothic novel, no ghost is needed: the danger comes from people, and Beckett's trust leaves him exposed.
What you’ll discover
- A trusting young traveller Follow Beckett as curiosity, vanity and longing draw him towards people he barely understands.
- Charm with hidden teeth Discover a tale where pleasant company and apparent kindness give deception room to work.
- An inn full of unease Enter the Dragon Volant, where quiet rooms conceal more than a traveller expects.
- Memory sharpens the dread An older Beckett recalls his youth, setting experience against the young man's trusting view.
- Fear without a ghost Feel suspense grow from human pretence as a reasonable man loses his grasp on events.
Who will love it
For readers who love suspense, old mysteries and Gothic atmosphere, and anyone who enjoys a short Victorian thriller of romance, disguise and human scheming.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young man travels to Paris
- A glimpse that cannot be forgotten
- The Marquis and a quiet warning
- The inn called the Dragon Volant
- A trap is made, and he does not see it
- What the story is really about
- How Le Fanu builds the dread
- Why a realistic Gothic tale works
Who’s who
- Richard BeckettA young, wealthy and trusting Englishman who travels to Paris and tells the story years later; he wants romance and adventure.
- The Marquis d'HarmonvilleA courteous French nobleman who takes an interest in Beckett and tries to guide him, though he keeps much to himself.
- The young ladyA beautiful and mysterious Frenchwoman whom Beckett meets on the road; she draws him onward and seems to need his help.
- The innkeeper and his householdThe people who run the Dragon Volant, where Beckett stays and where more is going on than a traveller would think.
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Das Zimmer im Fliegenden Drachen
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu · 1872
Richard Beckett follows a mysterious woman toward a lonely French inn, where romance draws him into danger.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 8
A young man travels to Paris
The story is told by Richard Beckett, an Englishman who is by then an older man. He remembers the year when he was a young traveller, well off, curious and a little vain. He is on his way to Paris, where he plans to enjoy the pleasures of the city and see something of the world.
Beckett is not wise in the ways of the world, and he knows it, looking back. He has been brought up with comfort and has never met real danger. That matters, because the whole tale depends on how easily an open and trusting young man can be led.
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What is The Room in the Dragon Volant about?
It is about a young Englishman who travels to Paris, falls for a woman he glimpses on the road and finds himself caught in a dangerous plot at a lonely inn.
Is The Room in the Dragon Volant a ghost story?
No. Although it uses the mood of a Gothic tale, the fear in this book comes from human schemers and not from ghosts or the supernatural.
When was The Room in the Dragon Volant written?
Le Fanu published it in 1872, a year before he died. It is a work of fiction, set in France in the years after the Revolution.
The author
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
1814–1873 · Irish Gothic novelist
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer born in Dublin in 1814. He lived in Ireland and died in Dublin in 1873. He wrote Gothic tales, mystery novels, and ghost stories. His novels include Uncle Silas, published in 1864, and The Wyvern Mystery, published in 1869.
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