12 h 37 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 37 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does it mean to stand by someone when loyalty begins to cost you something?
In A True Friend: A Novel, Adeline Sergeant places genuine friendship at the heart of ordinary life. Family, money, marriage and conscience shape the choices people face. What happens when standing by a friend conflicts with family duty, or when affection and the demands of marriage pull in different directions?
Sergeant is an English novelist of the Victorian era whose work attends to family life, moral questions and ordinary people's feelings. Here, the focus is the quiet power of genuine friendship: loyalty tested by circumstance and affection that grows slowly. This calm, humane novel invites you to notice the choices that reveal character, rather than hurry toward grand drama.
What you’ll discover
- Friendship with a cost Consider what genuine loyalty asks when standing beside another person is no longer easy.
- Affection that grows slowly Spend time with feelings that deepen gradually, giving small choices room to matter.
- The weight of conscience Explore how family, money and marriage bring moral questions into ordinary lives.
- Quiet strength at work Discover a view of friendship whose power lies in steadfast care rather than grand drama.
- A gentler reading pace Settle into a calm, character-driven novel that makes space for affection and reflection.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy warm Victorian domestic fiction, brave heroines and loyal friendships will love this novel. It suits those drawn to gossiping country towns, emerging family secrets and stories that explore friendship within a close community.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Miss Polehampton tries to part two friends
- Lady Caroline takes both girls home
- A lost boy leads Janetta to the Red House
- Margaret confides and Janetta makes a silent vow
- A child's promise and a father's death
- Standing up for Janetta costs Sir Philip dearly
- Nora's secret and Wyvis's promise bind the families
- Margaret and Wyvis meet and Janetta objects
- True friendship tells the truth at a price
- Rank and suitability shape every room and manner
Who’s who
- Janetta ColwynA quick-witted, warm-hearted doctor's daughter who works as a music teacher and wants to be a faithful friend to everyone she loves.
- Margaret AdairA gentle, graceful heiress used to having her wishes met, who loves Janetta and dreams of a romantic love.
- Lady Caroline AdairMargaret's smooth, watchful mother, who wants a brilliant and suitable marriage for her daughter and guards her family's place in the county.
- Sir Philip AshleyA kind, earnest young landowner devoted to reform, who loves Margaret and cannot ignore an injustice done to a friend.
- Wyvis BrandThe dark, quick-tempered master of the Red House, shunned by the county, who longs to live a better life and raise his son.
- Cuthbert BrandWyvis's gentle, lame, merry younger brother, an artist who wins the heart of Nora Colwyn.
- Nora ColwynJanetta's pretty, vain young stepsister, who longs for romance and is ashamed of her family's shabby home.
- Mrs. BrandWyvis's timid, sorrowful mother, who fears for her sons and finds comfort in Janetta's company.
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Una vera amica: romanzo
A music governess risks her post, her name and her heart to stay loyal to a rich and lovely friend.
Medium level5–10 hours to readItaliano
Learn a language with medium classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
Excellent
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In short
Would you give up your place in the world to keep a friend? Janetta Colwyn, a small music governess at a fashionable Brighton school, must answer that before she is twenty.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Miss Polehampton tries to part two friends
The story opens at Miss Polehampton's boarding school in Brighton. Janetta Colwyn is a pupil-teacher in shabby dresses, and Margaret Adair is the beautiful star pupil whose mother is the proud Lady Caroline. Janetta studies in an attic that is an icehouse in winter and an oven in summer, yet the girls love her for her gift of sympathy. Margaret loves her best of all.
The headmistress finds this friendship unsuitable and speaks very seriously to Margaret after evening prayers. Margaret, who is almost never lectured, answers with unusual firmness. She says Janetta is every bit as good as she is, and cleverer.
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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
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 8 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Sergeant, Adeline. A True Friend: A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-true-friend-a-novel.
Sergeant, A. (2026). A true friend: A novel. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-true-friend-a-novel
Sergeant, Adeline. A True Friend: A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-true-friend-a-novel.
@book{sergeant2026true,
author = {Sergeant, Adeline},
title = {A True Friend: A Novel},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-true-friend-a-novel}
}
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What is A True Friend by Adeline Sergeant about?
It tells of Janetta Colwyn, a doctor's daughter and music teacher, and her loyal friendship with the rich Margaret Adair. It follows her family trials, a country town's gossip and her growing bond with the Brand family.
Who is Wyvis Brand in A True Friend?
Wyvis Brand is the master of the Red House near Beaminster, initially believed to be Janetta's cousin. He is dark, quick-tempered and lonely, separated from his wife, and he is the father of little Julian.
Who is Lady Caroline Adair?
She is Margaret's mother, a gracious and watchful lady who rules her household with a smile. She wants a brilliant, suitable marriage for her daughter and guards the family's place in the county.
The author
Adeline Sergeant
1851–1904 · English novelist
Adeline Sergeant was a British novelist born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, in 1851. She lived in England and wrote novels during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her books included A True Friend: A Novel. She also worked as a teacher. She died in Bournemouth, England, in 1904.
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