12 h 21 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 man you are sent to betray becomes the one person you cannot pretend to love?
Brittany, 1799: the Republic fights royalist rebels across the western countryside. In Honoré de Balzac’s The Chouans, soldiers, peasants and spies face a war of divided loyalties. Marie de Verneuil, a clever woman from Paris, receives a dangerous task: win the trust of the rebel leader, the Marquis de Montauran.
Montauran leads with pride and courage, while Marie is meant to draw him into a trap. But their meeting turns a police scheme into a struggle between duty and desire. Commandant Hulot serves the Republic and his soldiers; the cold agent Corentin works through secrets. Around them, love makes an already dangerous mission harder to control.
What you’ll discover
- A mission made personal Follow Marie as the feelings she cannot pretend begin to challenge the role she must play.
- Brittany at war Enter a countryside of ambushes, secret meetings and owl-like cries used as rebel signals.
- Loyalties under pressure See how duty, class and love pull people toward opposing sides of the same conflict.
- Courage and hidden schemes Meet Montauran, Hulot and Corentin, whose different methods bring open fighting and secret plots together.
- Adventure with a sharp eye Discover an early Balzac novel where disguises and dangerous journeys meet a close attention to people.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like historical fiction, stories of spies and divided loyalties, and the early work of a great French novelist. If you want the full social range of Balzac's Paris, you may find this rural war tale narrower.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Brittany in 1799 is a land at war
- A woman is sent to trap the rebel chief
- The marquis and the Chouans live by a code
- Love grows where it should not
- Loyalty, duty and class pull people apart
- Scott's adventure meets Balzac's sharp eye
Who’s who
- Marie de VerneuilA clever, worldly woman of Paris, sent by the police to win the trust of the royalist leader.
- The Marquis de MontauranA young nobleman called the Gars, who leads the royalist rising in Brittany with pride and courage.
- Commandant HulotA veteran republican officer, blunt and loyal, who leads soldiers through hostile country.
- CorentinA cold police agent who prefers secret schemes to open fighting and watches over the plan.
- FrancineMarie's devoted companion, who travels with her and sees more than she says.
- Marche-à-TerreA hard Chouan leader, feared by his enemies and known for his stubborn loyalty to the cause.
- Madame du GuaA royalist noblewoman in the marquis's circle, with her own claims on his attention.
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- Audiobook
- 12 h 21 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 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.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Brittany in 1799 is a land at war
The story opens in the autumn of 1799, in the west of France. The Revolution has overthrown the king, and the Republic is now ruled from Paris. But in Brittany many villagers, led by priests and local nobles, still hold to the old order. They fight from hedges, woods and narrow sunken lanes, and they know every path.
Balzac begins with a scene on the road, where a column of republican soldiers marches with a group of young recruits. The recruits are Breton peasants, forced into an army they do not want. Around them the countryside looks quiet, yet it is full of watching eyes. The reader feels from the first pages that the land itself is hostile to the troops.
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The author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 · French novelist
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright born in Tours in 1799. He lived and worked in Paris, where he died in 1850. He wrote The Magic Skin in 1831, Eugénie Grandet in 1833, and Father Goriot in 1835. Many of his works belong to La Comédie humaine.
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What is The Chouans about?
It is about the war between the French Republic and royalist rebels in Brittany in 1799. A republican commandant, a rebel marquis and a woman sent to trap him are drawn into a story of love and divided loyalty.
Who were the Chouans?
The Chouans were royalist rebels in western France who fought the Revolutionary government. They were mostly rural people, tied to their priests and local lords, and known for ambushes and for using owl-like cries as signals.
When was The Chouans written?
Balzac published it in 1829, and the story is set in 1799. It was his first novel under his own name, and he later placed it in his cycle called The Human Comedy.
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