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Audiobook edition · 9 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does love cost when art matters more than the person who loves you?
In autumn Venice, young poet Stelio Èffrena meets the older actress La Foscarina. He trusts his gift and dreams of a new kind of art. She loves him deeply, yet fears losing her youth and his attention. Around them, palaces, canals, glass workers and musicians fill a city dim with golden light.
Gabriele D'Annunzio's The Flame follows a passion in which love and creation feed the same fire. Stelio treats even his feelings as material for art, while La Foscarina wonders what remains of her life beyond the stage. When young singer Donatella Arvale enters their circle, her freshness draws Stelio and sharpens the tensions around him.
What you’ll discover
- Venice in autumn light Linger among canals, palaces, stone and glass as the city shapes the lovers' moods.
- A poet's consuming ambition Enter Stelio's restless vision of art as a force that should shape a nation's life.
- The actress behind the roles Meet La Foscarina beyond the stage, where deep love meets the fear of fading youth.
- A voice that unsettles Discover how Donatella's fine singing voice and freshness stir an already uneasy circle.
- Beauty with a cost Feel the tension between devotion to another person and devotion to the fire of creation.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy richly colored prose, Venice brought to life, and stories of artists and their ambitions will love this novel. It also suits lovers of opera, painting and myth.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Love stands beside rising ambition
- A voice discovers its public power
- A new voice awakens jealousy
- Fear turns affection into accusation
- Art takes shape inside the storm
- Tenderness lives beside a hidden fear
- A playful name causes real anguish
- Images reveal and conceal human feeling
- Ambition has a human cost
Who’s who
- Stelio EffrenaA young poet and speaker who wants to create a new theater and treats every experience as material for his art.
- La FoscarinaA tragic actress, called Perdita, who loves Stelio with all her heart and fears she is too old to keep him.
- Donatella ArvaleA young singer, daughter of a sculptor, whose voice enchants Stelio and whose strength and silence remain a mystery.
- Daniele GlauroStelio's devoted friend and admirer, a quiet thinker who believes art can renew life.
- Lady MyrtaAn aging English lady who keeps greyhounds and violets and watches the lovers with sympathy.
- SofiaStelio's sister at home on the Adriatic coast, who appears through memory and comforts the lovers.
- Francesco de LizoA friend and follower of Stelio who praises him and joins the circle of his admirers.
- Andriana DuodoA Venetian countess who arranges the festival in the Doge's Palace to honor Stelio.
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The Flame
by Gabriele D'Annunzio · 1900
A poet prepares to speak to a thousand faces in a Venetian palace while the woman who loves him watches.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Picture a poet about to speak to a thousand people in the hall where the doges of Venice once sat, with no written speech in his pocket. That is where The Flame begins, on the last evening of September, with Stelio Effrena in a gondola beside the tragic actress he calls Perdita.
The Flame at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 40 min4 h 30 min fast, 6 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 81,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1900by Gabriele D'Annunzio
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A poet and an actress glide toward the festival
The novel opens on a gondola at twilight. Stelio Effrena, a young poet, sits beside La Foscarina, the tragic actress, as they glide toward the Doge's Palace. He is to speak that evening in the Hall of the Greater Council, and his silence tells her he is afraid.
He admits his heart trembles, then decides to speak with no prepared text. His written pages now seem as lifeless as dead seaweed. He will trust the moment and the city. A boat of pomegranates drifts by, and he explains that the fruit is his own emblem. For him, a chosen symbol steers a life toward its natural shape.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1900
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
D'Annunzio, Gabriele. The Flame. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-flame.
D'Annunzio, G. (2026). The flame. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-flame (Original work published 1900)
D'Annunzio, Gabriele. The Flame. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-flame.
@book{dannunzio2026flame,
author = {D'Annunzio, Gabriele},
title = {The Flame},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-flame},
note = {First published 1900}
}
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What is The Flame by D'Annunzio about?
It follows the poet Stelio Effrena and the actress La Foscarina in Venice. He wants to create a new theater, and she loves him while fearing her age and his attraction to a young singer.
Who is Perdita in The Flame?
Perdita, meaning the lost one, is the name Stelio gives to La Foscarina, the tragic actress. It shows how he sees her, as a gift he may have reached too late.
What does the flame mean in the book?
The flame stands for creative fire and passion. It appears in the fireworks over the lagoon, in the furnaces of Murano and in Stelio's praise of Giorgione as the bearer of the flame.
The author
Gabriele D'Annunzio
1863–1938 · Italian poet and novelist
Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938) was an Italian novelist, poet and playwright. He was born in Pescara and died in Gardone Riviera. His novels include The Child of Pleasure (1889), The Triumph of Death (1894) and The Flame (1900). He also served as a soldier during the First World War.
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