9 h 53 minAudiobook13 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 does love ask of you when duty stands in its way and illness darkens every hope?
In Amaury, Alexandre Dumas turns toward the quieter world of sentimental and psychological romance. Love, duty and sacrifice press against one another, while illness casts a shadow over hope. The tension lies in feelings that cannot stand apart from social rules and personal honor.
This is a different side of Dumas from his adventure fiction. Rather than the rush of swordplay, the book draws you toward the weight of feeling. Its central concerns are intimate: what love demands, what duty allows, and how much a person may be asked to sacrifice.
What you’ll discover
- Love against limits Explore a romance where deep feeling meets the barriers of duty and social rules.
- The cost of sacrifice Consider what it means to love when sacrifice becomes part of the test.
- Hope under a shadow Feel how illness gives questions of love and time a sharper edge.
- A quieter Dumas Meet the novelist through intimate emotional pressures rather than duels, schemes and escapes.
- Feeling and personal honor Enter a world where the claims of the heart press against personal honor.
Who will love it
Readers who love French romance, Paris salons and tender letters, who enjoy a doctor's diary beside a lover's journal, and who want a story about love in its many forms, with humor placed beside grief.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A salon asks if love can kill
- A happy man is turned out of doors
- The doctor's secret jealousy and sorrow
- Two comic stories and a friend left behind
- A father learns the truth overheard
- The ball, the waltz and the fall
- Antonia leaves and Amaury must go
- One night in the garden
- What the book is really about
- How the book is told and what to watch
Who’s who
- Amaury de LeovilleA rich, handsome young count and diplomat who wants to marry Magdalena, whom he has loved since childhood.
- Magdalena de AvrignyThe frail, tender daughter of the doctor, who loves Amaury and lives by his presence, though her health is fragile.
- Doctor AvrignyA famous physician and widower, Amaury's guardian, who loves his daughter so much that jealousy and fear drive his choices.
- Antonia de ValgenceuseMagdalena's lively cousin, the doctor's niece, who keeps a secret and wants only her family's happiness.
- Philippe AuvrayAmaury's well-meaning friend and a lawyer, who falls in love quickly and always arrives too late.
- Madame BraunThe English governess who watches over the two cousins and sees only the surface of things.
- Count MengisAn old friend of the doctor who watches over Antonia and wants a good match for her.
- Raoul de MengisThe count's cool and elegant nephew, a diplomat who hopes to win Antonia's hand.
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
- 9 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- 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.
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 Amaury 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.
Amaury
by Alejandro Dumas · 1844
A young count waits three hours to knock on one door in Paris, while a doctor father hides a fear for his daughter.
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
Amaury is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, set in Paris in 1838 and 1839. It is told as a manuscript read aloud in a salon on a snowy night by the secretary of a witty old count.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A salon asks if love can kill
The book opens in the voice of the author, who says that conversation is the thing the French do better than anyone. In Paris, he says, a few drawing rooms keep the art alive. One of them belongs to Count M, an old man who knew Voltaire and Rousseau in his youth and who has seen the Revolution and the fall of Napoleon. He sends out invitations that say that conversation will take place, which keeps away bankers and gamblers.
One snowy night the talk turns to love. A doctor present calls it a mild congestion of the brain, to be cured by diet and leeches. The count asks a harder question: can we die of love? The young say yes. The old say no. The women make a doubtful gesture, too proud to deny it and too honest to say yes.
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 Amaury
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 the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
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 Amaury by Alexandre Dumas about?
It is a romance about Amaury de Leoville and Magdalena de Avrigny, who love each other from childhood. Her father, a famous doctor, fears for her fragile health, and the novel follows love, jealousy and sacrifice among the people close to her.
Who are the main characters in Amaury?
Amaury is a young count and diplomat. Magdalena is the doctor's frail daughter. Doctor Avrigny is her father and Amaury's guardian. Antonia is Magdalena's cousin, and Philippe Auvray is Amaury's comic lawyer friend.
Why is the book told as a manuscript in a salon?
The frame is a Parisian salon where Count M asks whether a person can die of love. He answers by having his secretary read a manuscript made from a doctor's diary and a young man's letters.
The author
Alexandre Dumas
1802–1870 · French novelist and playwright
Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was a French novelist and playwright. He was born in Villers-Cotterêts, lived in Paris, and died in Puys, near Dieppe. He wrote The Three Musketeers (1844), The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–1846), Twenty Years After (1845), and The Black Tulip (1850).
More by Alejandro Dumas
All 18 books
More like this
Free
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
Popular in romance
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
