15 h 38 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the men everyone trusts are the very men you have most reason to fear?
In the City of London, a trading house stands on trust, credit and a respectable name. Behind that solid front, its owner is ruthless in private. In The Firm of Girdlestone, Arthur Conan Doyle draws you into a business world where the hunger for money gives deception a purpose.
Around the firm, younger people hope for work, love and a place in society. Their chances depend on powerful men whose favour comes with pressure. As greed drives the story, Doyle explores the distance between public virtue and private conduct—and the danger of judging character by manners, church attendance and a bank balance.
What you’ll discover
- A trusted name Enter a London trading house where a solid reputation hides ruthless private conduct.
- Young hopes under pressure Follow younger people whose hopes for work and love depend on powerful men.
- Money behind the lies Trace the greed and deception that drive this Victorian story of moral pressure.
- The mask of virtue Look beyond good manners and wealth to the conduct they can conceal.
- Doyle beyond Holmes Discover an early novel that draws its tension from business, ambition and dependence.
Who will love it
Readers who love Victorian melodrama, sharp portraits of hypocrites, comic old soldiers and a love story under threat will feel at home here. Fans of Conan Doyle will enjoy his early storytelling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A respectable firm hides a cold heart
- A dying friend hands over his daughter
- Public charity is a mask for greed
- Rotten ships are worth more when they sink
- A young Scotsman finds love on the rugby field
- Failing an exam opens a different door
- Two Bohemians live on bluff and borrowed beer
- A ruined firm plans a diamond fraud
- A guardian locks the girl away
- How the book is told and what it says
Who’s who
- Kate HarstonSeventeen when her father dies, she is the ward of John Girdlestone and wants nothing more than to be free and to marry Tom.
- John GirdlestoneThe pious head of an African trading firm, he hides ruin behind religion and will do anything to save his name.
- Ezra GirdlestoneHis strong, hard son handles the firm's money and moods, and wants wealth, comfort, and Kate's fortune.
- Tom DimsdaleA Scottish rugby player who gives up medicine for business, he loves Kate and refuses to give her up.
- Dr George DimsdaleTom's stout and good-humored father, a retired London physician, who is fond of Kate and slow to trust Girdlestone.
- Major Tobias ClutterbuckA pompous card-table veteran with tall tales and a derringer, he wants money but keeps a code of his own.
- Von BaumserThe major's red-bearded German housemate, he is poor, loyal, and quick to pass on useful gossip from the City.
- Captain Hamilton MiggsThe heavy-drinking master of the Black Eagle, he sails the firm's rotten ships and knows too much about them.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
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.
La Compagnie Girdlestone
by Arthur Conan Doyle · 1890
A pious merchant swears to guard his dying friend's daughter, yet his firm is sinking and her fortune is the way out.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Learn a language with medium classicsEspagnolFrançaisAllemandItalienJaponaisPortugaisAnglaisHow we measure levels
Excellent
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
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Picture a merchant whose son fines clerks for a game of odd man out, while he gives to charity and sits in the front pew three times every Sunday. Now picture that same man swearing at a deathbed to guard his friend's daughter while he already counts her fortune.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A respectable firm hides a cold heart
Girdlestone and Co., African Merchants, sits behind a narrow passage near Fenchurch Street Station in London. Inside, about ten young clerks bend over mahogany desks under Ezra's watchful eye. The firm is run by John Girdlestone and his only child, Ezra. The City calls the father Iron Girdlestone and praises him as a man of strict religion and strict honesty.
The first scene shows what that means. Ezra catches three clerks playing odd man out and docks five shillings from each. Then he fines the old senior clerk, Gilray, ten shillings.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
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
- 1890
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Firm of Girdlestone. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-firm-of-girdlestone.
Doyle, A. C. (2026). The firm of Girdlestone. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-firm-of-girdlestone (Original work published 1890)
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Firm of Girdlestone. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-firm-of-girdlestone.
@book{doyle2026firm,
author = {Doyle, Arthur Conan},
title = {The Firm of Girdlestone},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-firm-of-girdlestone},
note = {First published 1890}
}
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 La Compagnie Girdlestone
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 The Firm of Girdlestone about?
It tells of a London trading firm headed by the pious John Girdlestone and his son Ezra, who hide financial ruin, cheat their workers, and turn on Kate Harston, the ward whose fortune could save them.
Who is Major Tobias Clutterbuck?
He is a pompous, bald, card-playing army veteran who lives in cheap lodgings with his German friend Von Baumser. He tells tall tales, carries a derringer, and becomes a surprising player in the Girdlestone story.
Is The Firm of Girdlestone a true story?
No, it is a novel. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it early in his career, drawing on real Victorian features such as unsafe ships, risky speculation, and his own student years in Edinburgh.
The author
Arthur Conan Doyle
1859–1930 · British detective novelist
Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician born in Edinburgh in 1859. He practised medicine in England and wrote novels, short stories and histories. His Sherlock Holmes stories began with A Study in Scarlet in 1887. He also wrote The Lost World in 1912. He died in Crowborough, England, in 1930.
More by Arthur Conan Doyle
Voir tous ses livresMore 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
