8 h 38 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 212 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 212 pagesAbout this book
What if the love that breaks your boredom also unsettles every careful arrangement in your life?
Thérèse Martin-Bellème has rank, a Paris salon and a husband who gives his energy to politics. Her lover, Robert Le Ménil, offers habit rather than happiness. Then she meets Jacques Dechartre, a shy painter and sculptor, and the polished life she knows begins to lose its hold.
In Anatole France’s The Red Lily, drawing rooms, dinner tables and a journey to Florence frame a close study of passion. As Thérèse seeks a love that feels real, jealousy presses against her hopes. Around her, poets, writers and politicians trade opinions, while quiet conversations expose the distance between polite manners and private longing.
What you’ll discover
- A woman beyond appearances Enter Thérèse’s thoughts as she weighs familiar comforts against the desire for something real.
- Love shadowed by jealousy Explore the uneasy line between wanting another person and wanting to possess them.
- Florence and growing closeness Follow Thérèse and Dechartre into a city where art and affection draw them together.
- The talk of Paris Meet poets and sceptics whose wit brings society’s money, manners and politics into focus.
- Irony with real tenderness Find a calm, attentive portrait of love that leaves room for painful questions.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy psychological love stories, witty dinner-table conversation, Florence in spring, and finely drawn portraits of politicians, poets and artists in nineteenth century Paris.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rich countess waits in her empty drawing room
- A comfortable affair quietly comes to an end
- She leaves for Italy with a poet and a widow
- Florence slowly awakens a heart that was asleep
- A confession by the river and a promise
- Two meetings, with a lover she leaves and a lover she finds
- Art gives them a language for growing affection
- A hidden letter troubles a new attachment
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Therese Martin-BellemeA rich, clear-minded Parisian countess who is bored by her marriage and her affair, and who longs for a love that fills her life.
- Jacques DechartreA gifted, restless sculptor who falls deeply in love with Therese and cannot bear to think of her past.
- Robert Le MenilTherese's lover of three years, a simple, honest sportsman who loves hunting and cannot understand why she drifts away.
- Count Martin-BellemeTherese's cold, careful husband, a deputy who wants a place in the government and dislikes being alone.
- Vivian BellAn English poet living in Fiesole, who talks in a bright chatter and fills her house with bells.
- ChouletteA ragged, brilliant poet who preaches poverty and Saint Francis and drinks, jokes and prays with equal fervor.
- Paul VenceA sharp, ironic writer and old friend of Dechartre, who introduces the two and comments on everyone.
- Madame MarmetA gentle widow of a scholar, who travels with Therese to Italy and loves to remember her husband.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 38 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 212 pages: 9,95 USD when you start free, 15,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 212 pages: 18,95 USD when you start free, 24,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in, 320 pages: 14,95 USD when you start free, 20,95 USD on its own.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in, 320 pages: 22,95 USD when you start free, 28,95 USD on its own.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Red Lily — Complete in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Red Lily — Complete
by Anatole France · 1894
A bored Parisian countess leaves for Florence and grows closer to a sculptor she knows from Paris.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What does a woman want when she has money, beauty and a lover, and still feels bored to death? The Red Lily is a novel by Anatole France about Therese Martin-Belleme, a Parisian countess, and a sculptor she first meets in Paris.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rich countess waits in her empty drawing room
The novel opens in the drawing room of Therese Martin-Belleme, who studies herself in a mirror while waiting for visitors. She is rich, admired and emotionally distant from the politician she shares her daily life with. The old tapestries and porcelain around her seem as tired as she is.
The callers come and go. Princess Seniavine teases her, General Lariviere talks about horses, and the scholar Schmoll complains that a poet has stolen his inscription. The writer Paul Vence offers to bring a sculptor named Dechartre. Robert Le Menil, her lover of three years, asks her to meet him at three the next day.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Red Lily — Complete
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs 15,95 USD on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: 9,95 USD for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Red Lily about?
It is about Therese Martin-Belleme, a wealthy Parisian countess who travels to Florence, grows closer to the sculptor Jacques Dechartre whom she knows from Paris, and finds a love that is passionate, joyful and shadowed by jealousy.
What does the red lily mean in the book?
The red lily is the emblem of Florence. It also decorates the little gold spoon Dechartre gives Therese, linking a tender moment to the city around them.
Who is Choulette in The Red Lily?
Choulette is a vagabond poet, half saint and half drunkard, who preaches poverty, founds a religious order and travels to Assisi. He gives the book much of its humor and some of its wisdom.
The author
Anatole France
1844–1924 · French novelist
Anatole France (1844–1924) was a French novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Paris and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France. His novels include The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), Thaïs (1890), The Red Lily (1894), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914).
More by Anatole France
All 9 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
