5 h 55 minAudiobook4 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
Among Italian lakes and garden villas, love must find its way past secrets and impeccable manners.
In Henry Harland’s The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box, a man and a woman meet in a world of leisure, gardens, and polished conversation. Their courtship turns on a gentle but absorbing question: can they understand one another when good manners make it so easy to hide what they feel?
This romantic comedy of manners finds its fun in talk, flirtation, and the secrets that keep affection from speaking plainly. Harland’s graceful, conversational style gives the story its warmth. The pace is leisurely, the humour affectionate, and the Italian lakes offer a sunny setting for love’s small uncertainties.
What you’ll discover
- A lakeside escape Step among villas and gardens where leisure leaves room for conversation, courtship, and possibility.
- The pleasures of courtship Follow a man and woman as they try to understand each other through good manners.
- Secrets with a spark Enjoy the comic uncertainty of feelings hidden beneath polite words and well-bred conversation.
- Wit without a sting Find affectionate humour in the ways people talk, flirt, and conceal what matters.
- A graceful conversational voice Savour Harland’s neat phrases and light touch in a romance that prefers smiles to sermons.
Who will love it
For readers who love polished, affectionate comedy, travel to Italy in the mind, and courtship stories told with wit.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lakeside Italy made for romance
- Courtship is a game with rules
- Secrets give the comedy its spark
- A light voice and a warm view
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La Tabatière du cardinal
by Henry Harland · 1900
Among villas by the Italian lakes, love finds its way through secrets, hints, and the rules of good manners.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A lakeside Italy made for romance
The story is set among the Italian lakes, in the years around the turn of the twentieth century. Harland paints this world as a place of leisure. There are villas above the water, terraces, gardens, and quiet roads where visitors and residents meet and talk. Italy here is not a land of hardship. It is a stage where people have time for feeling and conversation.
The setting matters because a comedy of manners needs a small, closed circle. In a few houses and a few gardens, everyone notices everyone else. A glance, a call, or a cup of tea can carry real meaning. The lake gives the book beauty, but it also gives it limits, and those limits make every small event seem important.
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What is The Cardinal's Snuff-Box about?
It is a light romantic comedy set among the Italian lakes. It follows a courtship in a small circle of villa dwellers and visitors, where wit, good manners, and secrets shape how love unfolds.
Who wrote The Cardinal's Snuff-Box and when?
Henry Harland wrote it, and it appeared in 1900. Harland was an American who lived in London and was part of its literary scene in the 1890s. He died in 1905.
What is a comedy of manners?
It is a kind of story that finds humor in the habits, speech, and social rules of a particular group. The fun lies in polite talk, hints, and what people hide behind good behavior.
The author
Henry Harland
1861–1905 · American novelist and editor
Henry Harland was an American novelist and editor, born in 1861. He lived in New York before moving to London in 1889. He edited the literary magazine The Yellow Book from 1894 to 1897. His novel The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box appeared in 1900. He died in San Remo, Italy, in 1905.
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