7 h 34 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if discovering who someone really is only makes it harder to know whether to trust them?
In Red Masquerade, Louis Joseph Vance brings the Lone Wolf’s daughter into a world of concealed identities, criminal schemes, and dangerous loyalties. Disguise shapes the action, and every claim invites doubt. Her challenge is not simply to escape a threat, but to judge what others say about themselves—and about her.
Behind this world stands Michael Lanyard, the gentleman adventurer known as the Lone Wolf. His past as a jewel thief casts a shadow over respectable appearances. Courage and loyalty do not always belong to those who uphold the law, while his reputation reaches beyond his own adventures into the dangers surrounding his daughter.
What you’ll discover
- Trust under pressure Feel the tension between learning a person’s identity and deciding whether their intentions deserve trust.
- Disguises with a purpose Follow action shaped by hidden motives, where appearances can conceal what matters most.
- A thief’s long shadow Discover how Michael Lanyard’s reputation gives his daughter’s story a thread of family danger.
- Loyalty beyond the law Question easy judgments as courage and loyalty complicate the divide between respectability and crime.
- Suspense that keeps moving Enter a criminal adventure driven by movement, uncertainty, and the pull of concealed identities.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy gentleman thieves, masked villains, secret councils and daring rescues in old London. Readers who like a heroine finding her own courage will feel at home.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- One bid begins a bitter feud
- Hidden letters deepen the quarrel
- Another Sofia watches life pass
- A promised father brings new doubts
- A father's welcome conceals revenge
- The private feud serves wider violence
- Love gives Sofia reasons to question
- Victor tries to manufacture inherited guilt
- Small clues reveal the hidden struggle
Who’s who
- SofiaA clever young cashier in a Soho restaurant who learns she is a princess and wants to find her true father and a life of her own.
- Prince Victor VassilyevskiA pale, cold schemer who claims Sofia as his daughter and wants power, revenge and control over her.
- Michael LanyardThe gentleman thief called the Lone Wolf, whose rash kindness at an auction makes him Victor's lifelong enemy.
- Roger KarslakeA polished, boyish secretary who rescues Sofia from the café and wins her heart while keeping secrets of his own.
- Shaik TsinThe soft-footed Chinese major-domo who runs Victor's household and serves his master's most ruthless orders.
- Sybil WaringA fashionable widow who becomes Sofia's chaperone and guide into London society, and who says she loved Sofia's mother.
- Mama ThérèseThe greedy restaurant owner who raises Sofia as a drudge while pocketing the money paid for her care.
- SturmA fanatical German chemist who works for Victor and stares at Sofia with insolent mockery.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Red Masquerade in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Red Masquerade
by Louis Joseph Vance · 1921
A café cashier named Sofia reads an advert for a stranger's lost daughter and walks out into a London of masks.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read in full
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“She was fed up with being fed up.”
In short
What would you pay for a painting you suspect is a fake? Michael Lanyard pays twenty thousand one hundred guineas, on impulse, because a cruel man wants the canvas and a lovely woman cannot afford it.
Red Masquerade at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 20 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 62,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1921by Louis Joseph Vance
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 collector bids against a prince
The book opens in London in 1900, on a wet afternoon in an auction room on King Street. Michael Lanyard leans against a wall with a catalogue. He is young, rich and admired as a collector, and behind that polish he is a thief who feels no more guilt than indigestion.
He notices a pale man in the front row whose face he can describe with one word, evil. Two women come in. One is a golden-haired Russian in sable, Princess Sofia Vassilyevski, separated from her husband. The pale man is that husband, Prince Victor, and he stares at her with pure hatred.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Vance, Louis Joseph. Red Masquerade. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/red-masquerade.
Vance, L. J. (2026). Red masquerade. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/red-masquerade (Original work published 1921)
Vance, Louis Joseph. Red Masquerade. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/red-masquerade.
@book{vance2026red,
author = {Vance, Louis Joseph},
title = {Red Masquerade},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/red-masquerade},
note = {First published 1921}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Red Masquerade
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Red Masquerade about?
It follows Sofia, a Soho cashier who learns she is the daughter of a notorious thief and is taken into the house of a prince who claims to be her father. Disguise, hidden letters and a revolution plot drive the story.
Who is the Lone Wolf in Red Masquerade?
The Lone Wolf is the nickname of Michael Lanyard, a gentleman thief and art collector in the first part of the book. He appears across Vance's series, and in this novel the name is used by his enemies as well.
Is Red Masquerade a true story?
No. It is a work of fiction published in 1921, an adventure thriller set in London, with imagined villains, secret councils and a fantastical gas plot. It reflects the fears about revolution in the years after the war.
The author
Louis Joseph Vance
1879–1933 · American novelist
Louis Joseph Vance was an American writer born in New York City in 1879. He wrote novels and short stories. The Lone Wolf appeared in 1914, and its central character returned in later novels. His books include Red Masquerade and Alias the Lone Wolf. He died in New York City in 1933.
“She was fed up with being fed up.”
More by Louis Joseph Vance
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
