5 h 47 minAudiobook4 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 giving up your pipe means losing more than a habit?
In My Lady Nicotine, J. M. Barrie introduces a London bachelor who treats his pipe like a beloved companion. Looking back on his bachelor days, the narrator gathers scenes of talk, tobacco and friendship. Marriot, Pettigrew and Gilray join him, each bringing his own habits and opinions to the smoking table.
These comic sketches move from a bachelor's devotion to his pipe to the pleasures of shared talk and the pressures of courtship and marriage. Other loyalties threaten the smokers' comfortable circle. Beneath the teasing, Barrie asks what a cherished habit gives us—and what we risk when we let it go.
What you’ll discover
- A bachelor and his pipe Meet a narrator whose faithful companion inspires the tender language usually saved for love.
- Around the smoking table Enjoy Marriot, Pettigrew and Gilray as their habits and opinions feed the gentle comedy.
- Love challenges old loyalties Watch courtship and marriage press against the familiar pleasures of the narrator's circle.
- The comfort of company Discover how a pipe becomes a reason to sit, listen and share an easy silence.
- The cost of habit Look beneath the jokes at the comfort of familiar habits and the difficulty of giving them up.
Who will love it
For readers who love dry, affectionate humour, Victorian London and short, easy scenes about friendship. It is also good for anyone who has tried to drop a habit.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bachelor and his faithful pipe
- Friends gather around the smoking table
- Love and marriage threaten the pipe
- What the sketches really say
Who’s who
- The narratorA London bachelor and devoted smoker who tells the story and treats his pipe as a faithful companion.
- MarriotOne of the narrator's smoking friends, whose life is touched by the pull between his pipe and other loyalties.
- PettigrewA member of the narrator's circle, a fellow smoker who shares in the talk and the comic troubles of the group.
- GilrayAnother of the friends who gather around the smoking table and add his own opinions to the talk.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 47 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Meine Dame Nikotin
by J. M. Barrie · 1890
A London bachelor cherishes his pipe, but love and marriage threaten the loyalty he shares with his smoking friends.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
My Lady Nicotine is a comic book about tobacco and the men who love it. J.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bachelor and his faithful pipe
The book is told by a narrator who looks back on his bachelor days in London, and who talks about smoking the way other men talk about a beloved friend. He speaks in a calm, teasing voice. He is fond of his habit and a little amused by it, and he invites us to be amused too.
The title sets the tone. Lady Nicotine is the narrator's playful name for tobacco, treated as a woman who has won his heart and will not let go. She asks very little and gives him comfort, thought and company. That joke runs through the whole book and gives it its warm, mock-serious flavour.
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What is My Lady Nicotine about?
It is a comic book about a London bachelor and his friends, who share a love of pipe tobacco. Barrie uses their talk, courtships and failed attempts to quit to draw a warm picture of friendship and habit.
Who wrote My Lady Nicotine and when?
J. M. Barrie wrote it, and it appeared in 1890. He was then a young Scottish writer in London, years before his plays and the creation of Peter Pan made him widely known.
Who is Lady Nicotine?
She is not a real woman. Lady Nicotine is the narrator's playful name for tobacco, which he treats as a beloved companion that holds his loyalty and comforts him.
The author
J. M. Barrie
1860–1937 · Scottish novelist and playwright
J. M. Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright, remembered above all as the creator of Peter Pan. Peter and Wendy (1911), his novelization of the beloved stage play, gave the world Neverland, Tinker Bell, and Captain Hook in their fullest literary form.
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