Résumé
Résumé de La marque de Caïn
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who love Victorian crime, clever clue-hunting and witty narrators will enjoy this. If you like London fog, riverside pubs, Oxford dons and a villain who is easy to hate, you are in for a treat.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
A poisoner, a missing schoolgirl, a riverside pub and an Oxford scholar who wants to be useful and cannot quite manage it. Andrew Lang, better known for folklore, poetry and essays, turns to crime in London. A card game goes wrong, a dead man turns up in a cartload of snow, and a forged telegram does its work. Lang tells it with dry humour while the plot underneath stays steady and dark. Two friends, a shy philanthropist and a cheerful doctor, could hardly be less alike.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A card game exposes a cheatFree
- 2A dead man in the snow
- 3Margaret at Miss Marlett's school
- 4The forged telegram and the vanished girl
- 5A doctor says the death was murder
- 6Cranley's plan and the poisoned oranges
- 7A trusting widow and a trap in Paris
- 8A night of knives, wheels and wings
- 9Good intentions and a watchful narrator
Point clé 1 sur 9
A card game exposes a cheat
At a dinner in the Olympic Club, Robert Maitland of Oxford plays a dull host. He is a pale, serious man who does everything from duty. His school friend Frank Barton, a big cheerful doctor who practises among the poor of Chelsea, sits beside him.
Barton asks about a guest, the Honourable Thomas Cranley. He has a jester's face, a huge cat's-eye pin and a talent for South Seas stories. Barton knows he has left a university and a regiment under a cloud.
Cranley leads young guests to a baccarat game and opens a bank. His cheating is exposed to all, and Cranley staggers out shaking, then finds something in a newspaper advertisement that makes him sit up.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about La marque de Caïn
What is The Mark of Cain by Andrew Lang about?
It is a Victorian mystery about a rich Oxford Fellow, his doctor friend and a vanished schoolgirl. A tattooer is found dead in a cart of snow, and a charming rogue appears to be behind a plot involving a forged telegram.
Who are the main characters in The Mark of Cain?
Robert Maitland is the shy Oxford philanthropist and guardian. Frank Barton is the doctor who spots the crime. Thomas Cranley is the villain. Margaret Shields is the girl at the centre. Mrs. St. John Deloraine is the trusting widow.
What does the mark of Cain mean in the book?
The title points to a mark on a person's body that stands for guilt and for tribal identity. A scholar in the book connects such marks to the story of Cain, and tattoos are the central clue of the plot.
When was The Mark of Cain written and is it a true story?
Andrew Lang wrote it as a work of fiction in the late Victorian period, setting the story in London, Oxford and Paris. The characters and the plot are invented, though the settings and the tattooing lore feel real.
Is The Mark of Cain easy to read?
The story moves along through short chapters with lively scenes, clear dialogue and a witty narrator. The plot is easy to follow, and the humour keeps the pace light.