6 h 25 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
Church bells ring, old gods linger, and even the pious have worldly desires.
In The Well of Saint Clare, Anatole France gathers tales set largely in the Italy of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Saints, sinners, scholars and ordinary townspeople share a world of city feuds, holy hermits and stubborn appetites. Old legends become a way to explore the distance between what people profess and what they want.
France approaches faith and doubt with wit rather than haste. His narrators speak calmly, then a small remark reveals a hidden desire. Christian traditions meet the pagan past of Greece and Rome, while wells, gardens, relics and humble creatures carry meanings beyond themselves. The pleasure lies in watching these details quietly change how you see a person or an idea.
What you’ll discover
- Italy as legend Enter streets where church bells, worldly appetites and the memory of old gods meet.
- Wit beneath courtesy Enjoy calm, polite narration that lets a small remark expose a character's deeper wishes.
- Faith beside doubt Explore piety and desire through tales that treat human contradictions with a gentle touch.
- A living pagan past Discover how the tales place Christian faith beside older traditions, in ruins, churches and scholarly interests.
- Quiet objects, larger meanings Notice how a well, garden or humble creature can hold the weight of an idea.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, polished stories, legends of saints and the mood of old Italy. It is also a good first step into France's work.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Italy as a world of legend
- Wit is the author's chosen tool
- Faith and the pagan past meet
- Symbols and why the book lasts
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Le Puits de Sainte Claire
by Anatole France · 1895
Saints, sinners and scholars in old Italy reveal the pull between faith and the pleasures of the world.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Well of Saint Clare is a collection of tales by Anatole France, the French writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921. It appeared in the 1890s, when France was a leading voice in Paris letters.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Italy as a world of legend
The tales draw on a country thick with stories. Italy in the age of the saints and the painters gives France a stage where church bells, city feuds, holy hermits and worldly appetites share the same streets. He treats these settings like a collector who loves old objects and wants you to see their colour.
The figures of the Franciscan tradition stand behind much of the book, and the title itself recalls Saint Clare of Assisi, the follower of Saint Francis. France does not write as a preacher. He writes as a scholar who has read the old lives of the saints with delight and who knows how a legend grows as it is retold.
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What is The Well of Saint Clare about?
It is a collection of short tales by Anatole France, set mostly in medieval and Renaissance Italy. They deal with saints, legends, faith and human weakness, told with irony and affection.
Who wrote The Well of Saint Clare?
Anatole France wrote it. He was a French author and critic who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921 and died in 1924. He was admired for his clear, ironic style.
When was The Well of Saint Clare written?
It was written in the 1890s, when France was a prominent writer in Paris. The tales are fiction, though they draw on real legends and on the traditions of the Franciscan saints.
The author
Anatole France
1844–1924 · French novelist
Anatole France (1844–1924) was a French novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Paris and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France. His novels include The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), Thaïs (1890), The Red Lily (1894), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914).
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