10 h 3 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens to love when everyone in town knows your family’s name, land, and savings?
In Provincial Marriages, Edmond About brings courtship into the small towns of nineteenth-century France, where a match concerns more than two hearts. Property, rank, and reputation all have a place in the conversation. These four tales explore the pull of feeling in a world where families have practical hopes for marriage.
Love and ambition do not always lead toward the same choice. A good match can promise a better position, while noble words can hide ordinary calculation. About’s light, clear storytelling finds comedy in these motives without dismissing real feeling. Each short tale offers a different pair of people, a different problem, and another small world to enter.
What you’ll discover
- The town and its rules Enter a close-knit world where family standing shapes the possibilities of courtship.
- Love beside ambition Explore the uneasy space between choosing a partner and hoping to rise.
- Fine words, practical motives Enjoy the comedy of people giving noble explanations for calculated choices.
- Feeling beneath the humour Find gentle social comedy that leaves room for sincere wishes and affection.
- Four small worlds Move between short tales, each with its own people and marriage problem.
Who will love it
This book suits you if you enjoy witty, warm stories about courtship, family pressure and money, set in real French towns, with clever narrators and sharp dialogue.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ordinary people have stories worth telling
- Proper conduct cannot secure love
- Silence turns affection into resentment
- Professional honor complicates a personal promise
- A hidden act spreads its harm
- Comfort comes with a binding promise
- Happiness does not erase creative need
- Family bargains put affection under pressure
Who’s who
- Henri MarchalA respected Strasbourg professor of medicine who wants a wife and tries to follow every rule of custom.
- Adda KolbThe canon's cheerful daughter, who loves Marchal in silence and hates him when she believes he has abandoned her.
- Jacques MainfroiThe most admired young lawyer in Grenoble, proud of his old family and strict about justice.
- Marguerite de VaulignonA bold horsewoman and later a ruined widow, who gives her fortune to her father and fights for it.
- Paul AstierA forest ranger's son who rose through the ranks and wants honor, promotion and a place in his regiment.
- Blanche VautrinThe colonel's sharp-tongued daughter who feels ugly and takes spiteful action against a man she cannot ignore.
- ÉtienneA dazzling Paris writer, deep in debt, who dreams of a masterpiece called Jean Moreau and agrees to a bargain for love.
- Hortense BersacA young provincial widow who adores Étienne's books, wants to marry him and hopes to make him happy.
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 14 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 and the audiobook open 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, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook 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, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Provincial Marriages 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.
Provincial Marriages
by Edmond About · 1860
A refused suitor, a lawyer, a lieutenant and a novelist each chase love through provincial France.
Medium level5–10 hours to read16 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 anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“If God gave good people all the happiness they deserve, there’d be none left for the wicked.”
In short
Why does a doctor who does everything right lose the girl he loves? Why does a lawyer who wins every case still fear he will lose the woman who waits for him?
Provincial Marriages at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 50 min4 h 40 min fast, 7 h slow
- Length
- 83,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1860by Edmond About
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 quiet doctor sets out to marry
Professor Henri Marchal, at thirty-five, is one of the best doctors in Strasbourg. He is stout, red-bearded, blue-eyed and easy to overlook in a crowd. His brother made money in Paris and paid for all his studies.
Now Henri buys a house and orders new furniture. The whole town understands what that means. He spends his evenings at the home of Canon Kolb, where Adda Kolb, seventeen, blonde and cheerful, dances in his arms. Their eyes say they are drawn together.
Free for 3 months · 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 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1860
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
About, Edmond. Provincial Marriages. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/provincial-marriages.
About, E. (2026). Provincial marriages. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/provincial-marriages (Original work published 1860)
About, Edmond. Provincial Marriages. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/provincial-marriages.
@book{about2026provincial,
author = {About, Edmond},
title = {Provincial Marriages},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/provincial-marriages},
note = {First published 1860}
}
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 audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, 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 Provincial Marriages
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 Provincial Marriages about?
It is a collection of four tales about courtship, family pressure and money in nineteenth-century France. A doctor, a lawyer, a lieutenant and a famous writer each face a marriage shaped by custom, class and the choices of others.
What are the four stories in Provincial Marriages?
The tales are The Canon’s Daughter, set in Strasbourg, Mainfroi, set in Grenoble, The Regiment’s Album, set in the garrison town of Nancy, and Étienne, about a Paris writer who marries and settles in a provincial town.
Who is Étienne in the last tale?
Étienne is the name given to a celebrated Paris author who is deep in debt and dreams of writing a great novel called Jean Moreau. A younger writer tells his story at Étienne's own request, using that name.
The author
Edmond About
1828–1885 · French novelist and critic
Edmond About was a French writer, journalist, and critic. He was born in Dieuze in 1828 and died in Paris in 1885. His novels include The King of the Mountains, published in 1857, and The Man with the Broken Ear, published in 1862. He was elected to the Académie française in 1884.
“If God gave good people all the happiness they deserve, there’d be none left for the wicked.”
More by Edmond About
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
