Story summary
Trama e riassunto di Una terribile tentazione
- 8 min di lettura
- 11 parts
- Audio a breve
A childless baronet, a bitter cousin and a servant's whispered scheme fight over one great inheritance.
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Una terribile tentazione in breve
Riassunto: 8 min di lettura
- Tempo di lettura
- Circa 9 h 5 min7 h 10 min fast, 10 h 50 min slow
- Durata
- 129.700 parole
- Livello nella biblioteca
- Medio longer sentences, everyday words
- Prima pubblicazione
- 1871by Charles Reade
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Quanto tempo ci vuole per leggere i classici · Aggiornato
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Una terribile tentazione in short
A Terrible Temptation is the story of two cousins and one inheritance. Richard Bassett believes he was robbed of Bassett and Huntercombe, and Sir Charles, a reformed rake, holds them. Rhoda Somerset helps bring about his marriage after an anonymous letter nearly prevents it.
What Una terribile tentazione is about
What would you do to give the man you love the one thing he longs for? In A Terrible Temptation, Charles Reade asks that question of a gentle, obedient wife, and the answer shakes a whole county.
The novel opens in a London morning room. Richard Bassett courts the young beauty Bella Bruce and complains that his cousin Sir Charles robbed him of the great estates of Bassett and Huntercombe. Then Sir Charles is announced. Reade mixes comedy, courtroom battles, disguises, a madhouse and a deeply felt portrait of a marriage.
A chi è rivolto. You will love this if you enjoy Victorian plots full of feuds, secrets and sudden turns, warm and witty narration, strong women, and courtroom scenes.
The story in 11 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
Two cousins quarrel over one great inheritance
The story starts in Portman Square, London, where Richard Bassett is charming Miss Arabella Bruce, a modest beauty with fifteen thousand pounds. Bella asks about Sir Charles Bassett, and Richard answers sharply. He says his grandfather broke the entail, the legal chain that kept land in one line, and settled everything on Sir Charles's father. Richard swears he will have the land back by outliving the heir.
Then Sir Charles walks in. He is a tired, well-bred man who has wasted years on pleasure. He says Richard's father squandered his chances and was bought out, so where is the injustice? Both men speak with total conviction.
Bella melts toward Sir Charles and agrees to marry him. Richard is left with a double wound, living next door to Huntercombe Hall with its sixty chimneys looking down on his small house.
A grievance feeds on itself, and the whole novel grows from that one hunger.
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A fiery woman of fashion enters the quarrel
Sir Charles has a past.
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An anonymous letter wrecks a happy engagement
Sir Charles is now living in paradise.
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A disguised nurse works to repair the damage
Rhoda spends the night thinking harder than she ever has.
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The cousins turn their feud into open war
Back in England, Richard hears bells welcoming the newlyweds home and sinks into misery.
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Childlessness and a servant's idea cloud Huntercombe
Years pass, and Sir Charles and Lady Bassett have no child.
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Richard Bassett uses the law against a sick man
Richard and Wheeler arrange for two gentlemen to visit Sir Charles while Lady Bassett is out walking with Mr. Angelo.
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A husband is freed and a family's secret takes shape
Inside Bellevue House, Sir Charles discovers the odd company of the mad.
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The two boys, and the girl who stands between them
The child is named Reginald, and he grows into a wild, handsome, dark-eyed boy.
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Hatred, nurture and goodness mix in surprising ways
The book is about more than a lawsuit.
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A storyteller who talks to the reader and plays with form
Reade tells this story with a loud, confident voice.
Read all 11 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Sir Charles Bassett A languid baronet who gives up his wild past for love and wants a child to carry on his name.
- Lady Bassett (Bella Bruce) A gentle, obedient wife who learns to fight cleverly for her husband and carries a heavy secret.
- Richard Bassett The disinherited cousin who lives next door and schemes for years to win the estates he thinks are his.
- Rhoda Somerset A fiery woman of fashion with a fierce temper and a good heart who becomes a hidden friend to the Bassetts.
- Mary Wells Rhoda's quick-witted half-sister, a maid who wants power and security and comes to love her mistress.
- Mr. Rolfe A big, eccentric novelist who rescues Sir Charles with wit, legal knowledge and a taste for justice.
- Reginald and Compton Two boys in one house, one wild and dark, one fair and loyal, whose futures depend on a family secret.
- Ruperta Bassett Richard's bright, stubborn daughter, who loves her cousin Compton and wants the families to make peace.
How it ends (spoiler)
Richard Bassett catches Reginald as a masked burglar and takes him to Sir Charles's justice room. There Mary Meyrick, formerly Mary Wells, cries out that Reginald is Richard's own son and she is his mother. Sir Charles and Lady Bassett eventually find peace, but she still privately atones for her concealed fault. Richard, humbled, makes peace. Ruperta nurses Lady Bassett back to health, and Compton and Ruperta marry.
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Domande su Una terribile tentazione
What is A Terrible Temptation about?
It follows a feud between two cousins over the Bassett and Huntercombe estates. A childless baronet, his devoted wife and a servant face a dangerous choice when an heir seems out of reach, and the quarrel spreads into courts and an asylum.
Who is Rhoda Somerset in A Terrible Temptation?
Rhoda Somerset is a famous woman of fashion who once enjoyed Sir Charles's favour. She has a wild temper and a loyal heart, and she becomes the unseen friend who works to unite Sir Charles and Bella Bruce.
When was A Terrible Temptation written and is it a true story?
It is a Victorian novel by Charles Reade, who drew on real legal and medical cases of his time, including wrongful confinement in asylums. The characters and the feud are invented, but the court and asylum settings reflect real practice.
Is A Terrible Temptation worth reading today?
It offers a fast plot, comic letters, courtroom scenes and vivid women characters. The narrator speaks to you directly, and short chapters make it easy to follow. Its questions about marriage, inheritance and nature versus nurture still hold interest.
Cita questa edizione
Reade, Charles. A Terrible Temptation. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-terrible-temptation.
Reade, C. (2026). A terrible temptation. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-terrible-temptation (Original work published 1871)
Reade, Charles. A Terrible Temptation. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-terrible-temptation.
@book{reade2026terrible,
author = {Reade, Charles},
title = {A Terrible Temptation},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-terrible-temptation},
note = {First published 1871}
}
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