10 h 3 minAudiobook3 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 happens to love when everyone in town knows your family’s name, land, and savings?
In Provincial Marriages, Edmond About brings courtship into the small towns of nineteenth-century France, where a match concerns more than two hearts. Property, rank, and reputation all have a place in the conversation. These four tales explore the pull of feeling in a world where families have practical hopes for marriage.
Love and ambition do not always lead toward the same choice. A good match can promise a better position, while noble words can hide ordinary calculation. About’s light, clear storytelling finds comedy in these motives without dismissing real feeling. Each short tale offers a different pair of people, a different problem, and another small world to enter.
What you’ll discover
- The town and its rules Enter a close-knit world where family standing shapes the possibilities of courtship.
- Love beside ambition Explore the uneasy space between choosing a partner and hoping to rise.
- Fine words, practical motives Enjoy the comedy of people giving noble explanations for calculated choices.
- Feeling beneath the humour Find gentle social comedy that leaves room for sincere wishes and affection.
- Four small worlds Move between short tales, each with its own people and marriage problem.
Who will love it
For readers who love nineteenth-century French fiction, short tales about courtship, and gentle social comedy, with love, money and ambition shaping marriage in provincial towns.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The provincial town shapes every match
- Love and ambition pull in different directions
- Social comedy sits beside real feeling
- A short form built for quick pleasure
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Provinzialheiraten
by Edmond About · 1860
In the small towns of France, couples balance love against money, family and reputation as marriage becomes a bargain.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Provincial Marriages is a collection of tales by Edmond About, a French novelist and journalist who died in 1885. He wrote in the second half of the nineteenth century, when French fiction paid close attention to money, class and the pressures of family life.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The provincial town shapes every match
Provincial tales of this period are set far from Paris, in towns where everyone knows everyone. A family's name, land and savings are common knowledge. A courtship there is watched by neighbours, relatives and often the local priest or notary.
In such a place, marriage is a public matter. Readers of this kind of fiction meet fathers who weigh a suitor's income, mothers who count the dowry, and young people who must find room for their own wishes.
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Who was Edmond About?
Edmond About was a nineteenth-century French writer who worked as a novelist, journalist and critic. He died in 1885 and was admired in his day for a clear, witty and ironic style.
What is Provincial Marriages about?
It is a collection of tales about love, ambition and marriage in the French provinces, where family, money and reputation shaped who could marry whom.
When was Provincial Marriages written?
It comes from the nineteenth century, during the author's working life, which ended with his death in 1885. The tales reflect the social habits of that era in France.
The author
Edmond About
1828–1885 · French novelist and critic
Edmond About was a French writer, journalist, and critic. He was born in Dieuze in 1828 and died in Paris in 1885. His novels include The King of the Mountains, published in 1857, and The Man with the Broken Ear, published in 1862. He was elected to the Académie française in 1884.
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