4 h 35 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 35 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the world’s comfortable beliefs conceal more than they explain?
At the heart of Isis stands a strong, enigmatic woman who defies the world around her. Hidden power and the pull of secret knowledge shape this philosophical Gothic novel by Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. Her mystery invites you closer, without making her an easy figure to understand.
Here, the strange and the symbolic take the place of plain realism. Villiers brings belief, power, knowledge and the limits of science into the story. Against an age absorbed in science and progress, he sets lofty ideals and the unsettling possibility that reality has a secret side.
What you’ll discover
- A woman beyond easy answers Meet a central figure whose strength and mystery resist a simple reading.
- The pull of hidden knowledge Explore the fascination of secrets in a story shaped by the occult.
- Questions beneath the mystery Follow characters as they discuss belief, power and the limits of science.
- A world beyond realism Enter French fiction drawn toward the strange, the symbolic and the unseen.
- Ideals against a shallow world Discover the tension between lofty aspirations and the comfortable beliefs Villiers mistrusts.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy secret societies, hidden palaces and mysterious heroines, or fiction that joins adventure to big questions about faith, doubt and power.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young count arrives and Florence whispers
- The prince teaches respect, silence and will
- A solitary genius grows up among books
- Three years of thought end in lightning
- A palace built as a machine for secrecy
- Real power works best when no one sees it
- An age of doubt hungers for the ancient
- How voice, epigraphs and the veil shape the book
Who’s who
- Tullia FabrianaA rich, beautiful and learned marquise who lives in a secret-laden palace, rules Italian politics from the shadows, and waits for someone she cannot yet name.
- Count Wilhelm Strally-d'AnthasA young, handsome, fearless German nobleman, alone in the world, who comes to Florence seeking fortune and falls for the marquise at once.
- Prince ForsianiAn old ambassador and courtier who loves Wilhelm for his mother's sake, warns him about the world, and introduces him to Tullia.
- XorylA devoted young Athenian whom Tullia rescued from the roadside, now her only companion and the guardian of the palace's hidden defenses.
- Lord SeymourAn English gentleman at the Florentine court, once refused by Tullia, whom the prince warns Wilhelm to watch carefully.
- The Duchess of EsperiaA graceful cousin of Wilhelm who presents him to Florence and shares quiet secrets with the prince and the nuncio.
- Duke Bélial FabrianoTullia's elderly Venetian father, a skilled swordsman who lets her mind grow freely and who dies by poison.
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Isis
by Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam · 1862
In Florence in 1788, a young count meets a woman whose palace hides trapdoors and whose mind hides a plan.
Challenging2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
A young count arrives in Florence in 1788, and an old prince takes him aside under the trees of the Cascine park to tell him what the world is really like, and who is waiting for him at the end of the walk. Isis is a philosophical gothic novel by the French writer Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, with a dedication dated Paris, July 2, 1862.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young count arrives and Florence whispers
The story opens at an evening reception in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The Duchess of Esperia presents Count Strally-d'Anthas, a young man of perhaps eighteen who has just arrived from Germany. He ignores the dancing and sits down to chess with an English guest, Lord Seymour, while a small crowd gathers around the board.
Gossip starts at once. Why is the duke so eager to introduce him to the papal nuncio? An elderly lady murmurs that Prince Forsiani knew the young man's mother very well long ago. Nobody follows the hint. Rumor is a kind of music here, and nothing important is said aloud. The prince says he will collect Wilhelm at the Cascine park at nine, because a meeting is set for ten.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1862
- Language
- français
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Auguste de. Isis. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/isis.
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, A. de. (2026). Isis. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/isis (Original work published 1862)
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Auguste de. Isis. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/isis.
@book{villiersdelisleadam2026isis,
author = {Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Auguste de},
title = {Isis},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/isis},
note = {First published 1862}
}
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What is Isis by Villiers de L'Isle-Adam about?
It follows a young German count in 1788 Florence who meets Tullia Fabriana, a learned, wealthy and secretive marquise whose palace hides traps and whose mind hides a plan. It mixes gothic adventure with philosophy.
Who is Tullia Fabriana?
She is the central figure, a marquise of ancient family who studied in a vast library, spent years in meditation and now quietly guides Italian politics. People respect her, but few understand her purpose.
What does the title Isis mean?
In the book, Isis is the veiled statue of Creation in Egyptian temples, with an inscription saying no one has lifted her veil. Villiers also used Isis as the name of a planned series of novels.
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