10 h 2 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 2 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the peace you seek in the wilderness leads you to a love you cannot understand?
Fleeing political trouble in Caracas, Abel enters the rainforests of Venezuela in search of peace. Near a village, he explores woods where a strange voice draws him deeper. Its source is Rima, a shy, bird-like girl who moves among the trees as though the forest is part of her.
In W. H. Hudson’s Green Mansions, love grows alongside questions about Rima’s past. She longs to find her mother’s people, while Nuflo, her secretive guardian, protects memories of his own. As Abel learns to see the woods through Rima’s eyes, their search leads beyond familiar ground, into a landscape of beauty and danger.
What you’ll discover
- A voice among trees Follow Abel toward the strange forest voice that first draws him to Rima.
- Love beyond understanding Meet a girl whose closeness to the wild unsettles and transforms Abel’s view.
- A forest worth seeing Discover woods alive with birds, where nature becomes a home rather than a resource.
- Secrets beneath the romance Feel the pull of Rima’s unknown past and the memories Nuflo keeps guarded.
- Memory, longing, and regret Hear Abel recall his journey in a voice shaped by distance and reflection.
Who will love it
Readers who love wild places, bird song and old-fashioned romance will find a home here. It suits anyone drawn to jungle adventure or to what nature can give a lonely, restless man.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A quarrel opens a locked chapter of life
- The gold dream fails and the forest gives peace
- Village life leads Abel to a forbidden wood
- A voice among the trees draws him deeper
- He glimpses a girl and learns of a plot
- A snake bite brings a stranger's rescue
- Rima has two faces and a guardian with secrets
- A lesson on a mountaintop sets a journey in motion
- Nature, love and an unshared language drive the story
- The story is told as a confession with vivid images
Who’s who
- AbelA young Venezuelan on the run who tells the whole story, hungry for adventure and drawn to a mystery in the forest.
- RimaA slender forest girl with a musical voice and shifting colors, who wants to find others who speak her language.
- NufloRima's old guardian, a devout rogue who tells lies, hides his meat-eating and hopes she will win him a place in heaven.
- RuniThe headman of the Parahuari village who takes Abel in, hates his old enemy Managa and fears the forest.
- Kua-koA young hunter with some imagination and some cunning, who befriends Abel and wants the forest girl killed.
- Cla-claRuni's ancient mother, an owl-faced storyteller who talks the men to sleep and loves Abel's music.
- Don PantaA greedy but kind trader at Manapuri who sends the sick Abel to the mountains to recover.
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Les Maisons vertes
by W. H. Hudson · 1904
A fugitive in the Guayana forest follows a bird-like voice to a girl who stands unharmed beside a deadly snake.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Learn a language with medium classicsEspagnolFrançaisAllemandItalienJaponaisPortugaisAnglaisHow we measure levels
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In short
What would make a charming, well-liked man in Georgetown keep one chapter of his life locked away for years? In Green Mansions, a quarrel between two friends forces the answer into the open.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A quarrel opens a locked chapter of life
The book opens in Georgetown, in British Guiana, in 1887. A young clerk befriends Mr. Abel, a wealthy Venezuelan whom everyone loves for his kindness and his talk of nature and poetry. Yet Abel goes cold whenever the talk turns to the Indigenous peoples of the interior.
A sharp quarrel brings the matter into the open. By morning Abel has written a letter begging forgiveness, and on the veranda, over black coffee, he decides to speak.
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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
- 1904
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 6 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/green-mansions.
Hudson, W. H. (2026). Green mansions. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/green-mansions (Original work published 1904)
Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/green-mansions.
@book{hudson2026green,
author = {Hudson, W. H.},
title = {Green Mansions},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/green-mansions},
note = {First published 1904}
}
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What is Green Mansions about?
It follows a young Venezuelan named Abel who flees a failed revolt and lives in the forests of Guayana. There he meets Rima, a mysterious girl with a bird-like voice, and becomes bound up in her search for her people.
Who is Rima in Green Mansions?
Rima is a slender girl who lives in a forest with her grandfather Nuflo. She speaks a musical language no one else understands, is friends with wild animals and is feared by the nearby Indians, who call her a daughter of the Didi.
What does the title Green Mansions mean?
The phrase is Abel's name for the forest he loves. He sees its leafy chambers and shafts of sunlight as vast halls built by nature, and he kneels to thank his Maker for those green mansions.
The author
W. H. Hudson
1841–1922 · British-Argentinian ornithologist
W. H. Hudson (1841–1922) was a writer and ornithologist born in Argentina. He settled in England in 1874 and lived there until his death. His books include The Purple Land (1885), Green Mansions (1904), and Far Away and Long Ago (1918). He also wrote about birds and the countryside.
More by W. H. Hudson
Voir tous ses livresMore like this
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