4 h 6 minAudiobook8 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 the people meant to keep a trusting girl safe help lead her into danger?
Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Temple loves her parents and wants to be good. At her boarding school in Chichester, she has little knowledge of the world beyond it. Then Montraville, a vain, impulsive young army officer, notices her at church. Mademoiselle La Rue, a calculating teacher, helps bring them together.
In Susanna Rowson's short novel, Charlotte faces a painful pull between affection for her parents and the officer who wants to win her. Seduction, betrayal and lost innocence shape this tale of warning. Rowson speaks directly to you along the way, asking who deserves blame—and refusing to place it all on the girl.
What you’ll discover
- A trusting heart Meet a girl whose wish to do right offers little protection against others' schemes.
- Love against duty Follow Charlotte as her growing acquaintance with Montraville tests her loyalty to her parents.
- Safety in question Look behind the school gates, where reputation matters more to Madame Du Pont than watchfulness.
- A storyteller beside you Hear Rowson pause the action to question, comment and urge her readers to learn.
- Blame beyond the girl Explore a tale that weighs Charlotte's choices alongside the pressures and failures of those around her.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy early novels, stories of manners and morals, and the history of American reading. It also suits anyone curious about how women's lives were written about in the 1700s. If you want fast, modern plotting, it may feel slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tale offered as a warning
- A schoolgirl in Chichester
- A soldier and a scheming teacher
- Love, duty and a hard choice
- What the story is really about
- How Rowson tells it
Who’s who
- Charlotte TempleA kind, trusting girl of fifteen who loves her parents and wants to be good, but has little knowledge of the world.
- MontravilleA young army officer, vain and impulsive, who sets his heart on winning Charlotte and does not look far ahead.
- Mademoiselle La RueA French teacher at Charlotte's school, calculating and self-serving, who helps bring the girl and the officer together.
- BelcourMontraville's friend and fellow officer, whose character is less trustworthy than his manners suggest.
- Mr. TempleCharlotte's father, a generous and principled gentleman who once gave up fortune for love and wants his daughter safe.
- Mrs. TempleCharlotte's gentle, affectionate mother, who trusts the school and hopes for her daughter's happiness.
- Madame Du PontThe head of the Chichester school, more concerned with her reputation than with watching over her pupils.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Charlotte Temple
by Susanna Rowson· 1791
A schoolgirl faces seduction and pressure from those she trusts.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A tale offered as a warning
Rowson opens with a short preface. She says she writes for the young, and especially for girls, and she calls her story a tale of truth. Many readers have wondered how much of it is fact. Rowson hints that real people stand behind the characters, though no one has settled the question. What matters is the purpose: she wants to show how easily a young woman can be led astray.
The story opens with two officers who see Charlotte among the schoolgirls leaving church. After that, Rowson turns to her parents, Mr. Temple and his wife, and to the old family history that shapes them. Mr. Temple is a gentleman who earlier chose to marry for love rather than for money. That choice cost him his father's favor, and it makes him a gentle and generous man. His wife Lucy comes from a family that fell on hard times.
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The author
Susanna Rowson
1762–1824 · English-born American novelist
Susanna Rowson (1762–1824) was an English-born American novelist, playwright, poet, actress, and teacher. She was born in Portsmouth, England, and lived in England and the United States. Her novel Charlotte Temple was first published in 1791. She opened a school for girls in 1797 and died in Boston in 1824.
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What is Charlotte Temple about?
It tells of Charlotte Temple, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl in England who is drawn into a secret acquaintance with an army officer. Rowson uses her fate as a warning about deceit, careless guardians and the risks facing young women.
Is Charlotte Temple a true story?
Rowson called it a tale of truth and hinted that it rested on real events. No one has firmly proved who the real people might have been, so most readers treat it as fiction written to teach a lesson.
When was Charlotte Temple written and published?
Rowson wrote it in England, where it was published in 1791 under the title Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. An American edition followed in 1794, and it became very widely read in the United States.
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