8 h 20 minAudiobook12 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 work that gives your life meaning cannot win you the love you want?
Dick Heldar grows from a lonely orphan in Southsea into a painter of war scenes. His work takes him through the burning sands of the Sudan and into London's crowded studios. Success brings commissions and a reputation, but his deepest ambition remains tied to Maisie, the girl he grows up beside.
Maisie has ambitions of her own. She wants to become a real painter and refuses to be turned aside. As Dick pursues her love, his friendship with the war correspondent Torpenhow offers a steadier bond. In The Light That Failed, Rudyard Kipling brings art, war, and longing into a hard question: what do we owe our work, and those we love?
What you’ll discover
- An artist's fierce ambition Follow Dick as his gift for painting war brings success without answering his deepest longing.
- A woman with purpose Meet Maisie, whose stubborn commitment to painting makes her more than the object of Dick's love.
- Friendship that holds steady Find warmth in Torpenhow's calm humor and the untidy London rooms he shares with Dick.
- A world in motion Move from an English seaside childhood to army campaigns, London studios, and Paris art schools.
- Sharp scenes, hard questions Kipling's quick pace and sharp dialogue give ambition and unreturned love a lasting sting.
Who will love it
For readers who love Victorian fiction, stories about artists and their work, and tales of male friendship and war, with ambition, unreturned love and courage at their heart.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two children raised in a cold house
- A young man learns war and draws it
- London rooms and a friendship that holds
- Success comes, but Dick works for one woman
- Maisie returns with her own hard ambition
- Bessie Broke and the picture Dick cares about most
- What the title means for Dick
- Ambition against love, and the courage to face the dark
- How Kipling tells it and why it still bites
Who’s who
- Dick HeldarAn orphan turned war artist, brave and quick with a pencil, who has built his life around winning Maisie's love.
- MaisieDick's childhood friend, a serious and stubborn young woman who wants to be a real painter and will not be turned aside.
- TorpenhowA calm and humorous war correspondent who shares rooms with Dick and gives him steady, unselfish friendship.
- Bessie BrokeA sharp-tongued young model who sits for Dick's most serious painting and falls in love with Torpenhow.
- The NilghaiA large, loud, clever correspondent in Torpenhow's circle, named for an Indian antelope, who argues about everything.
- Mrs JennettThe strict woman who raises Dick in Southsea and shapes his hard, secretive childhood.
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
- 8 h 20 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 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 La Lumière qui s'éteint 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.
La Lumière qui s'éteint
by Rudyard Kipling · 1891
War artist Dick Heldar builds his life around winning Maisie's love, but she has an ambition of her own.
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
The Light That Failed is a novel by Rudyard Kipling, first printed in a magazine in 1891 and soon issued as a book. It follows Dick Heldar, an orphan who becomes a painter of war scenes.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two children raised in a cold house
The story opens in Southsea, a seaside town near Portsmouth. Dick Heldar is a small boy with no parents, left in the care of a hard woman named Mrs Jennett. In the same house lives another child, a girl called Maisie, who is also without a family of her own. The two are thrown together, and they become close because there is nobody else for either of them.
The house is not a kind one. Mrs Jennett believes in rules, in religion used as a stick, and in punishing a child for the slightest fault. Dick learns to lie to avoid a beating, and he learns to take punishment without crying. Kipling knew this sort of home from his own boyhood, and the pages have the sharp detail of memory.
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 La Lumière qui s'éteint
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 Light That Failed about?
It tells of Dick Heldar, an orphan who becomes a successful war artist while pining for Maisie, a childhood friend who wants to be a painter. It deals with ambition, unreturned love, loyalty and courage.
Is The Light That Failed based on a true story?
It is fiction, but Kipling drew on his own life. The unhappy boyhood in Southsea and the world of young journalists in London both come from his own experience.
Who is Torpenhow in The Light That Failed?
Torpenhow is a war correspondent who meets Dick in the Sudan and later shares rooms with him in London. He is the book's example of calm, loyal friendship.
The author
Rudyard Kipling
1865–1936 · English novelist and poet
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was an English writer and poet born in Bombay, India. He lived in India, England and the United States. He wrote The Jungle Book (1894), The Second Jungle Book (1895), Kim (1901) and Just So Stories (1902). He died in London in 1936.
More by Rudyard Kipling
All 12 booksMore 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
