9 h 41 minAudiobook7 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 love reveals the person that appearances keep hidden?
In Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home, Bayard Taylor brings a traveler's eye to familiar ground. Love, marriage and family pressure shape these short stories, while character reveals itself over time. The title story draws on an old fairy-tale pattern to explore appearances and the expectations people place on one another.
Alongside Beauty and the Beast, the collection includes Twin-Love, Can a Life Hide Itself and Jacob Flint's Journey. Taylor looks at life at home with the curiosity of someone used to looking beyond it. American and European manners sit side by side, inviting you to notice what seems natural—and what seems odd.
What you’ll discover
- Beyond first appearances Explore how love can change the way one person sees another.
- The pressures of home Find stories where marriage and family expectations put personal character under close scrutiny.
- A traveler's curious eye See familiar manners from the outside as Taylor sets America beside Europe.
- Humor without hurry Enjoy observant, slightly amused narrators who leave room to notice human behavior.
- Character revealed over time Settle into calm stories that trace how people show who they are.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy nineteenth century short fiction will find romance, mystery and gentle satire here. It suits anyone who loves Quaker farms, secret identities, rural comedy, and stories where love meets the barriers of class and custom.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A cruel prince and a secret marriage
- A family plays Quakers to hide its past
- A shy outcast sets out and finds confidence
- A pile of scraps tells a hidden story
- Two brothers share one life and one love
- A summer in Arcadia tests big ideas
- A Quaker daughter learns what love will cost
- A refined woman faces a question of class
- A sharp satire imagines women running politics
Who’s who
- Prince AlexisThe savage ruler of Kinesma, owner of ten thousand serfs, who bullies his household and dreads being mocked.
- HelenaA music teacher's daughter who marries into the prince's family and faces him with gentleness and courage.
- Henry DonnellyA tall Irish newcomer who takes a place among the Quaker elders of Londongrove and guards a family secret.
- Jacob FlintA shy farmer mocked all his life, who sets out on a journey and discovers his own worth.
- David and Jonathan VincentIdentical twin brothers raised as one person, whose bond is tested by a promise and by love.
- Asenath MitchenorA calm Quaker farmer's daughter who teaches botany to a young visitor and falls in love with him.
- Miss BartramA thoughtful city woman who meets a rough but noble young carpenter and cannot forget him.
- Mrs. StrongitharmA factory owner's wife and legislator in the State of Atlantic, who reports on women's political rights.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 9 h 41 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- 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.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear La bella e la bestia e racconti di casa 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 bella e la bestia e racconti di casa
by Bayard Taylor · 1872
A prince owns ten thousand serfs, while his son falls in love beyond the bounds of rank.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What is life like under a tyrant who owns ten thousand people? Bayard Taylor opens this collection of nine tales with that danger, set on the Volga in old Russia.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A cruel prince and a secret marriage
In Kinesma on the Volga, Prince Alexis owns ten thousand serfs and rules them by whim. When he naps, a red flag over the castle orders the whole town into silence. His tricks are savage, from chasing a merchant into an icy pond to forcing his men to dive through river ice for sport.
His son Boris goes to Saint Petersburg and meets Helena, a music teacher's daughter, after her sled overturns in the snow. They marry in secret.
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What is Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home about?
It gathers nine short stories by Bayard Taylor. They range from a tyrant prince in old Russia to Pennsylvania Quakers, a failed summer commune, a detective puzzle, a shipwreck and a satire on women in politics.
Who is the Beast in the title story?
The Beast is Prince Alexis of Kinesma, a rich and violent ruler whose servants fear his whims. The beauty is Helena, the bride of his son Boris, whose gentleness and courage challenge him.
What is the A. C. in The Experiences of the A. C.?
A. C. stands for the Arcadian Club, a group of friends who rent a seaside house to live by Nature and speak with total candor. The story looks back on the experiment with humor.
The author
Bayard Taylor
1825–1878 · American poet and travel writer
Bayard Taylor was an American poet, novelist, and travel writer. He was born in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in 1825. He published Views Afoot in 1846 and Northern Travel in 1857. He lived in the United States and served as a diplomat in Germany, where he died in Berlin in 1878.
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