9 h 24 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the life chosen for you demands that you surrender your freedom?
Suzanne Simonin does not want to become a nun. Her family presses her toward vows she cannot freely accept, and her mother has a family secret to hide. In Denis Diderot’s The Nun, Suzanne writes her story to the Marquis de Croismare, hoping his protection can help her find safety.
Her memoir takes you through three convents and the rule of very different mothers superior. Madame de Moni offers warmth and understanding; elsewhere, authority brings cruelty and punishment. Through Suzanne’s loneliness and resistance, Diderot explores what happens when someone is shut away against her will, and asks what freedom of conscience really means.
What you’ll discover
- A voice asking for help Suzanne’s first-person memoir brings you close to her need for protection and a life of her choosing.
- Kindness within convent walls Meet Madame de Moni, whose gentle care offers Suzanne comfort in a life she never chooses.
- The cruelty of power See how a harsh superior turns authority against a young woman she regards as a threat.
- A family’s hidden pressure Follow Suzanne’s struggle against a mother who presses her toward the convent to conceal a secret.
- Freedom made personal Encounter Enlightenment ideas through one sensitive woman’s insistence on living by her own free choice.
Who will love it
For readers who love a bold first-person voice, a young woman fighting for her own life, and French writing that argues about freedom, faith and conscience through vivid scenes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Suzanne asks someone to hear her
- Her refusal becomes a public act
- A family secret closes her choices
- The whole house becomes her punishment
- Suzanne takes her claim outside
- Warm affection can conceal another danger
- A vow needs freedom behind it
- Her confession is also a plea
- Small acts make freedom matter
Who’s who
- Suzanne SimoninThe unloved youngest daughter of a Paris lawyer, who is forced toward vows and wants only her freedom and an honest life.
- Madame de MoniThe wise, loving superior of Longchamp, who comforts Suzanne and prays through the night before her profession.
- Sister Sainte-ChristineThe narrow, superstitious superior who succeeds her and sets the whole house against Suzanne.
- Sister UrsuleA frail, devoted young nun who helps Suzanne send her case to a lawyer and tends her through illness.
- Monsieur ManouriThe Paris lawyer who takes up Suzanne's case and works to find her a new place.
- Monsieur HébertThe blunt, just grand vicar who investigates the charges against Suzanne and sees the truth.
- The Arpajon superiorA restless, warm and unpredictable woman who makes Suzanne her favorite and wants more than affection.
- Sister ThérèseA jealous young nun at Arpajon who fears losing the superior's favor to Suzanne.
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The Nun
by Denis Diderot · 1796
A young woman stands at the altar and says no to her vows, while her parents watch.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Picture a young woman at the altar of a convent church. A priest asks whether she gives herself freely to God.
The Nun at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 5 min4 h 5 min fast, 6 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 73,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1796by Denis Diderot
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
An unloved daughter is sent to a convent
Suzanne Simonin is the youngest of three daughters of a Paris lawyer. She is the prettiest and the cleverest, and her parents seem to punish her for it. When strangers praise her, the house turns cold after they leave.
A young man courting her eldest sister begins to favor Suzanne instead. She warns her mother, and a few days later she is taken to the convent of Sainte-Marie. Her sisters marry soon after.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1796
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Diderot, Denis. The Nun. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-nun.
Diderot, D. (2026). The nun. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-nun (Original work published 1796)
Diderot, Denis. The Nun. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-nun.
@book{diderot2026nun,
author = {Diderot, Denis},
title = {The Nun},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-nun},
note = {First published 1796}
}
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What is The Nun by Diderot about?
It tells the story of Suzanne Simonin, a young woman forced by her family to become a nun. She resists, moves through three convents, and fights to have her vows cancelled, writing her memoir to win a protector.
Who is the Marquis de Croismare in The Nun?
He is the nobleman to whom Suzanne addresses her memoir. She hopes his kindness will protect her after her escape, and she writes her life story so that he will understand her case and help her.
Is The Nun based on a true story?
It is a novel written in the eighteenth century by Denis Diderot, shaped as a memoir. It draws on real debates about forced vows and convent life, and it is presented through one narrator's voice.
The author
Denis Diderot
1713–1784 · French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopedist
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher of the Enlightenment and chief editor of the Encyclopédie. Les Bijoux Indiscrets, his mischievous satirical novel, hides sharp observations about society and truth-telling inside a scandalous comic premise.
More by Denis Diderot
See all their booksMore like this
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