23 h 17 minAudiobook17 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a woman who speaks her heart enters a world where people rarely mean what they say?
Near Norway’s Altenfjord, where the summer sun barely sets, Thelma Guldmar lives with her protective father, Olaf. Music, old legends and the northern landscape shape her sheltered world. Then Sir Philip Bruce-Errington arrives from England, drawn to her at once and eager for her to share his life.
London brings Thelma into drawing rooms ruled by gossip, display and polite cruelty. Her frankness meets people who treat conversation as a game, while Lady Winsleigh’s charm and ambition pose a danger. In this Victorian romance, Marie Corelli asks whether sincere feeling can stand against wealth and the empty rules of rank.
What you’ll discover
- A world beside the fjord Enter a northern landscape of lingering summer light, music and old Norse traditions.
- A heroine who speaks plainly Meet Thelma, whose honest words stand apart from London’s carefully managed conversations.
- Love across different worlds Follow Philip’s attraction to Thelma as the romance moves from Norway into fashionable London.
- Charm with a dangerous edge Encounter Lady Winsleigh, whose social grace comes with ambition and danger for those around her.
- Sincerity against social display Explore Corelli’s contrast between natural feeling, simple living and the demands of rank.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy old-fashioned love stories with wild northern scenery, mysterious caves, devoted friends and a sharp, funny look at London society. Anyone drawn to Norse legend, family loyalty and a heroine of great faith will find plenty here.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A song at midnight draws a stranger
- Gossip builds a wall around her
- A farmer covers his knife with his foot
- Rumour, a dinner and a foundling
- A proposal, a curse and a thrown stone
- A kiss in a crystal cave
- A bride in London's dull gold
- A reception that crowns the fisherwoman
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Thelma GüldmarA tall, golden-haired Norwegian girl raised by her farmer father, who cannot tell a lie and who loves Sir Philip with all her heart.
- Sir Philip Bruce-ErringtonA rich, bored English baronet who sails north in his yacht and falls in love with Thelma, wanting to be worthy of her.
- Olaf GüldmarThelma's white-haired father, a proud farmer who worships Odin and fears nothing, and who wants his daughter safe.
- George LorimerPhilip's lazy, joking best friend, who hides a loyal heart and a hopeless love of his own.
- SigurdA deformed foundling raised with Thelma, gentle and half mad, who adores her and fears the stranger who will take her.
- Reverend Charles DyceworthyA fat Lutheran minister who preaches damnation, drinks in secret and wants Thelma for himself.
- BrittaThelma's lively little maid, who flees a cruel grandmother and follows her mistress with fierce loyalty.
- Lady WinsleighA dark-eyed London beauty who once loved Philip and now plots to spoil his happy marriage.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 23 h 17 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 17 minutes, to read or to hear.
- 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.
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Thelma
by Marie Corelli · 1887
A midnight song on a Norwegian fjord draws a wealthy baronet toward a girl, a hidden tomb and a madman.
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In short
Thelma is a Victorian romance by Marie Corelli, who died in 1924. It moves from the fjords of northern Norway to the drawing rooms of London.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A song at midnight draws a stranger
The book opens on the Altenfjord in June, where the sun still stands in the sky at midnight. Sir Philip Bruce-Errington lies on a fur rug on the shore, waiting for his yacht, the Eulalie, to bring back three friends from the island of Seiland. He is rich and handsome, and a little tired of everything. Corelli spends a full page on the colours of the sky, and that sense of wonder runs through the early chapters.
Then a woman's voice rings out in an old mountain song, though nobody is in sight. A boat slides out of a cave, and a tall girl of about nineteen springs from it, her hair the colour of the midnight light. She laughs at his clumsy sign language, asks him to help launch her boat, and guesses that he is a gentleman who does no work. When he answers that he lives, and that it is hard work, she looks at him with real pity.
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What is Thelma by Marie Corelli about?
It follows a wealthy English baronet who meets a Norwegian farmer's daughter under the midnight sun. They marry and move to London, where her honesty meets the gossip, spite and false friendships of fashionable society.
Who is Sigurd in Thelma?
Sigurd is a deformed foundling whom Thelma's parents rescued as a baby and raised beside her. His mind is clouded, he loves her like a servant and more, and he fears the stranger who may take her.
Why does Olaf Güldmar cover his knife with his foot?
It is an old Norse gesture of peace. By putting his foot on the knife, Olaf shows that he trusts the two young men because they told him the truth about why they came.
The author
Marie Corelli
1855–1924 · British novelist
Marie Corelli was an English novelist and one of the best-selling authors of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, at her height outselling most of her famous contemporaries. The Sorrows of Satan, her 1895 tale of a devil's bargain in literary London, is often called one of the world's first modern bestsellers.
More by Marie Corelli
All 5 booksMore like this
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