8 h 55 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the longing you cannot resist becomes the spell your neighbours fear?
On the wind-blown heath of Lessay, in Normandy after the French Revolution, Jeanne Le Hardouey lives in a calm but hollow marriage. Her husband, Thomas, prizes order and his good name. Then the Abbé de la Croix-Jugan enters their world: a scarred priest, once a royalist fighter, whose dark reputation makes Jeanne's growing attraction more troubling.
As Jeanne struggles against her longing, neighbours whisper at doors, in fields and after Mass. Is she bewitched, or caught in a desire her world cannot allow? In The Bewitched, Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly draws church faith and folk belief close together. Empty heath, a ruined abbey and memories of the Chouan wars give this slow Gothic tale its uneasy ground.
What you’ll discover
- A landscape that broods Cross the heath of Lessay, where the land feels as alive as its people.
- Longing against good sense Follow Jeanne toward a forbidden attachment that unsettles her marriage and draws village scrutiny.
- The priest's dark presence Meet Jéhoël, whose scarred face and royalist past disturb the quiet of country life.
- Faith beside folk belief Encounter La Clotte's strange knowledge and the gentler parish faith of the Abbé Méautis.
- A slow gathering unease Linger over faces, fields and customs as ornate storytelling gives each detail its weight.
Who will love it
Readers who love dark folk tales, haunted landscapes, and clashes between passion and belief will enjoy this novel. Lovers of Gothic atmosphere will feel at home.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A midnight bell invites a story
- Mercy interrupts a defeated soldier's death
- Violence leaves the priest permanently marked
- Jeanne cannot dismiss the hooded priest
- Jeanne's pride carries a double inheritance
- Secret service gives love a purpose
- Desire and conscience divide Jeanne
- Rumor gives mystery a supernatural cause
- The source of enchantment stays uncertain
Who’s who
- Louis TainnebouyA broad, honest cattle farmer from Mont-de-Rauville who guides the narrator across the heath and tells him the story of the priest.
- Abbé Jéhoël de la Croix-JuganA former monk and Chouan leader with a ruined face, proud and silent, who wishes only to serve a lost royalist cause.
- Jeanne le HardoueyA proud, strong farmer's wife of noble birth, trapped in a marriage she did not choose, who is drawn to the scarred priest.
- Thomas le HardoueyJeanne's husband, a rich, shrewd farmer who bought Church land and distrusts the priest and the shepherds.
- The ClotteClotilde Mauduit, a paralyzed old woman once famed for her beauty, who shelters Jeanne and remembers the abbé's youth.
- The ShepherdA nameless wandering shepherd of the old presbytery, believed to command spells, who nurses a grudge against the Hardoueys.
- Nônon CocouanA kind, devout seamstress who loves priests and gossip alike and holds a quiet affection for Jeanne.
- Marie HecquetA poor, devout old woman who saves a dying Chouan and tends him despite the danger.
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The Bewitched
by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly · 1854
A midnight bell tolls across a fogbound heath, drawing a traveler into a tale of a scarred priest and forbidden love.
Challenging2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Picture a dark heath in Normandy, thick with autumn fog, and two riders walking beside their horses. Midnight strikes.
The Bewitched at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 55 min3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 70,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1854by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
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
Two riders cross a haunted heath at dusk
The book opens on the Lessay heath in the Cotentin, a bare, wide stretch of land that frightens even brave men. The author, a traveler riding home, stops at an inn called the Red Bull. There the landlady calls a man named Master Louis Tainnebouy to guide him.
Tainnebouy is a cattle farmer of about forty-five, honest in the face and proud of his white mare, Blanche. The two agree to cross the heath together. He speaks calmly of the robbers who once hid behind the hillocks, as a man who has sent a few running.
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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
- 1854
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 45 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules. The Bewitched. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bewitched.
Barbey d'Aurevilly, J. (2026). The bewitched. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bewitched (Original work published 1854)
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules. The Bewitched. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bewitched.
@book{barbeydaurevilly2026bewitched,
author = {Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules},
title = {The Bewitched},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bewitched},
note = {First published 1854}
}
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What is The Bewitched by Barbey d'Aurevilly about?
It tells of a scarred former monk and Chouan leader, the Abbé de la Croix-Jugan, and Jeanne le Hardouey, a proud farmer's wife who falls into a ruinous love. A farmer tells the tale to a traveler crossing a haunted heath.
Who are the Chouans in The Bewitched?
The Chouans were royalist guerrillas who fought the Republic in western France after the Revolution, mostly at night and from hedgerows. Several characters, including the abbé, the Clotte and Tainnebouy's family, are tied to them.
What is the Mass of the Abbé de la Croix-Jugan?
It is a legend told by farmer Tainnebouy. Nine slow bell strokes at Blanchelande are said to announce a midnight Mass for the dead, said by the priest with no congregation, which people believe they can see through holes in the church door.
The author
Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
French novelist and critic
Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly was a French novelist, short-story writer, and literary critic. He was born in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Normandy, in 1808 and died in Paris in 1889. He lived in Normandy and Paris. His books include The Bewitched, published in book form in 1854, and Les Diaboliques, published in 1874.
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