Summary
Summary of Tales and Stories
Tales and Stories at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 8 h 20 min6 h 35 min fast, 9 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 118,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
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
Sisterly love crosses into danger
Maria and Anina begin as sisters carrying water together, but their lives separate after their mother's illness. Maria becomes a Sister of Charity, while Anina secretly loves Domenico, an outlaw hated by her father. When French troops leave him starving, Anina carries food into the darkness and is caught.
Maria climbs the hill to ask the officer for mercy. His refusal brings family devotion up against military power, showing how one hidden love can draw a whole family into danger.
Key idea 2
A stolen face defeats the truth
Count Eboli leaves for war carrying signs of Adalinda's love: her hair and the ribbon she tied around his wounded hand.
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Key idea 3
Cruelty can conceal an unhealed wound
Dmitri was once gentle, but the destruction of his home, his wife's death and his daughter's disappearance have made him cruel.
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Key idea 4
Grief stands between love and choice
Constance wants to enter a convent after losing her father and brothers in civil war.
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Key idea 5
Loyalty enters an enemy's palace
In Florence, a beautiful youth calling himself Ricciardo asks the cobbler Cincolo for guidance to Lostendardo's palace.
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Key idea 6
Unshared youth becomes a prison
Winzy works for the alchemist Cornelius to earn enough money to marry Bertha.
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Key idea 7
Pride makes a dangerous bargain
Guido spends his fortune but refuses to admit what he has lost.
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Key idea 8
Love leaves traces through separation
Fanny Chaumont's love for Louis is caught between his hostility to nobles and her gratitude to the family that raised her.
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Key idea 9
Gentleness carries a strong will
Across these tales, love repeatedly meets an obstacle: war, a feud, a stolen identity or the damage caused by pride.
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Who it’s for
Readers who love gothic shadows, romantic landscapes and love tested by fate will feel at home here, along with anyone who enjoys vivid people and journeys through Italy and Greece.
What this book is
Would you trade your own face for three days of power? One man has lived for 323 years and longs for death while still fearing it. A nun puts on her sister's clothes to save her from a firing squad.
Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, wrote these stories after that novel, mostly for the gift books of her day.
In this summary
- 1Sisterly love crosses into dangerFree
- 2A stolen face defeats the truth
- 3Cruelty can conceal an unhealed wound
- 4Grief stands between love and choice
- 5Loyalty enters an enemy's palace
- 6Unshared youth becomes a prison
- 7Pride makes a dangerous bargain
- 8Love leaves traces through separation
- 9Gentleness carries a strong will
A sister takes her sister's place
The collection opens with The Sisters of Albano. On a hilltop near Rome, Countess Atanasia tells of two peasant girls, Maria and Anina, who carry water together from a fountain. When their mother falls ill, Maria nurses her at a convent in Rome. After the mother dies, Maria stays and becomes a Sister of Charity.
Anina remains at home and keeps one secret from her pious sister. She loves Domenico, a young man her father hates. He belongs to a band of outlaws, and French troops are closing in to starve them out. When Anina hears that Domenico is starving, she fills a basket and slips out into the dark.
A sentry catches her. Maria puts on her habit and climbs the hill to beg for mercy. The officer will not bend, but he lets her see her sister.
One secret love can spread danger through a whole family.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Adalinda accept the false Count Eboli?
Right. “At the Villa Spina, the false count shows the locket and the scar, and Adalinda names him as her love.”Not quite. “At the Villa Spina, the false count shows the locket and the scar, and Adalinda names him as her love.”
What makes Winzy's continuing youth a source of suffering?
Right. “As Bertha grows old and he stays young, neighbors turn against them.”Not quite. “As Bertha grows old and he stays young, neighbors turn against them.”
What pattern connects gentleness and pride across the tales?
Right. “In almost every tale the gentlest person has the strongest will, and pride does the most damage.”Not quite. “In almost every tale the gentlest person has the strongest will, and pride does the most damage.”
Go deeper: the whole of Tales and Stories
About 8 h 40 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 118,800 words
- Reading timeAbout 8 h 20 min
Questions about Tales and Stories
What is Tales and Stories by Mary Shelley about?
It collects seventeen short tales set in Italy, Greece, Switzerland, France and Britain. They follow lovers, exiles, bandits and dreamers caught up in feuds, wars and revolutions, with strong feeling and vivid scenery in each story.
Which stories are in the collection?
The book includes The Sisters of Albano, Ferdinando Eboli, The Evil Eye, The Dream, The Mourner, The Mortal Immortal, Transformation, The Swiss Peasant, The Invisible Girl, The Brother and Sister, The Parvenue, Euphrasia, The Elder Son and The Pilgrims.
What is The Mortal Immortal about?
It is the story of Winzy, an alchemist's apprentice who drinks part of a strange potion and keeps his youth for over three hundred years. He watches his wife grow old and finds that endless life brings loneliness.
Are these stories connected to Frankenstein?
They come from the same author but are separate, shorter works. Some echo Frankenstein in their interest in bargains, forbidden powers and lonely outsiders, while others are love stories set against war, feuds and revolution.
Is Tales and Stories easy to follow?
Each tale stands alone and has a clear plot with strong characters. Many open with a traveler or a storyteller, which makes it simple to step into each setting and follow the story from one scene to the next.
Cite this edition
Shelley, Mary. Tales and Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-and-stories.
Shelley, M. (2026). Tales and stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-and-stories
Shelley, Mary. Tales and Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-and-stories.
@book{shelley2026tales,
author = {Shelley, Mary},
title = {Tales and Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-and-stories}
}
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