Summary
Summary of Marigold
Marigold at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 4 h3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 57,100 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1902by Edith Allonby
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A soul will mend the net
In a dark palace on the edge of Hell, Prince Plucritus watches a gleaming web of mist wrapped around Lucifram. His wife, Princess Vestné, reports that a fly has escaped through it. The hole must be repaired, and the material they need is a well-seasoned human soul.
Alphonso, High Priest of the Golden Serpent, is chosen as the mender. He is supposed to guard the road to Heaven, but now his own soul is at stake in a game whose rules remain hidden.
Key idea 2
Marigold turns desire into a game
Tired of riches and goodness, Princess Marigold decides to pursue Alphonso, who is holy and forbidden to marry.
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Key idea 3
St Armand quietly encourages the priest
Marigold's playful confidence falters when she meets St Armand, an artist whose voice frightens her and who sees through her disguise.
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Key idea 4
Timothy makes feeling real
A child's cough reaches Marigold through the cottage wall.
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Key idea 5
Care asks Marigold to give something
After Alphonso visits her cottage, Marigold believes he is falling in love with her.
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Key idea 6
Temptation presses on hidden weaknesses
Temptation works through what each person wants to hide.
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Key idea 7
Jokes and symbols shape the tale
The narrator speaks directly to the reader, teasing science and society, then lets the jokes fall away before a scene with a dying child.
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Key idea 8
Love gives the game its stakes
Marigold begins by dressing as a beggar to chase a forbidden love, but she finds herself among people whose kindness, suggestions and disguises have purposes of their own.
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Who it’s for
Readers who enjoy fairy tales with a sharp edge, witty talk between a mistress and her maid, and Heaven and Hell betting on a young heart will love this book.
What this book is
What if the ruler of a world beside Hell stood at his window each night, watching a web of mist spread over a whole planet, and planned to mend a tear in it with a human soul? That is where Marigold begins. Prince Plucritus and his wife Vestné look down on Lucifram, where Heaven and Hell once agreed to play the human game.
Marigold is a gothic fantasy by Edith Allonby, who died in 1905. It mixes fairy tale, comedy of manners and a contest between Heaven and Hell. At its center is a bored young princess who disguises herself as a beggar to fall in love with a High Priest. You get wit, danger and a story that turns tender when a child falls ill.
In this summary
- 1The Prince and Princess plan to mend their netFree
- 2Marigold tires of riches and chooses rags
- 3A beggar girl asks a High Priest for gold
- 4A stranger with cold eyes watches her
- 5A tired priest listens to a clever friend
- 6A crippled boy teaches the princess to love
- 7The High Priest visits and an old friend returns
- 8Nursing Timothy tests the princess in secret
- 9Temptation finds the weak spot, not the wicked
- 10A teasing narrator shapes a fairy tale
Key point 1 of 10
The Prince and Princess plan to mend their net
The book opens in a dark palace on the edge of Hell. Prince Plucritus stands at a window and looks over Lucifram. He sees a gleaming web of mist wrapped around the whole planet. The narrator calls him a great spider and asks you to look closely at his handsome, cold, amused face.
A short interlude jokes about Genesis. Eve is the afterthought, made while Adam slept, and the tone teases the scientist, the churchman and the reader at once. Then Princess Vestné joins her husband. She complains that a fly has struggled through the net, and he answers that the hole must be mended with a well-seasoned soul. The mender will be Alphonso, High Priest of the Golden Serpent, who is meant to guard the road to Heaven.
Nothing is fully explained, and that is part of the charm. You learn that a game is on and that a soul is the stake. The opening sets the bet, and the story plays it out.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Marigold first disguise herself as a beggar?
Right. “At its center is a bored young princess who disguises herself as a beggar to fall in love with a High Priest.”Not quite. “At its center is a bored young princess who disguises herself as a beggar to fall in love with a High Priest.”
What condition does the doctor place on Marigold's nursing of Timothy?
Right. “As long as Timothy lives, she must see no more of the High Priest.”Not quite. “As long as Timothy lives, she must see no more of the High Priest.”
How does temptation work in the book?
Right. “The central idea of the book is that temptation looks for a weakness and leans on it.”Not quite. “The central idea of the book is that temptation looks for a weakness and leans on it.”
Go deeper: the whole of Marigold
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Questions about Marigold
What is Marigold by Edith Allonby about?
It follows a young princess who disguises herself as a beggar to chase a High Priest, and finds herself in a contest between Heaven and Hell over a human soul. A nursing story and a love story grow out of her disguise.
Who is St Armand in Marigold?
St Armand is a white-haired, black-eyed artist and friend of the High Priest. He is witty, smooth and persuasive, and he gives Alphonso and Marigold advice that seems kind but always leads somewhere. Watch what each piece of advice is for.
What is the Golden Serpent in the book?
The Golden Serpent is the god worshipped in the Temple of Lucifram, with three sacred tails. The High Priest Alphonso serves it, and the book uses it to show religion made of ritual, habit and public show.
Is Marigold a fairy tale or a gothic novel?
It is both. It has a princess, a fairy-land home and lullabies, yet it also has shadowy palaces, a prince of darkness, hidden houses and bargains for souls. The mix gives the book its own character.
Is Marigold easy to read?
The book is told in short chapters, with lively talk between Marigold and her maid Alice and a narrator who speaks directly to you with humor. The scenes are vivid, so the story is easy to follow and to enjoy.
Cite this edition
Allonby, Edith. Marigold. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/marigold.
Allonby, E. (2026). Marigold. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/marigold (Original work published 1902)
Allonby, Edith. Marigold. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/marigold.
@book{allonby2026marigold,
author = {Allonby, Edith},
title = {Marigold},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/marigold},
note = {First published 1902}
}
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