12 h 7 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 7 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the life you long for costs you the love you have?
In Margaret Pedler’s The Vision of Desire, Eliot receives a letter refusing marriage just after a night of shared love. He cannot believe the rejection is real. He tears the paper apart, drinks his tea, and walks through the Italian heat toward a villa, certain that a conversation can put things right.
Beyond a jasmine arch, a young woman waits near a fountain. Eliot brings hope; she brings a refusal he struggles to accept. Her stay with Aunt Elvira offers beautiful clothes, a car, and relief from years of scraping by. She wants that comfort to last. Their meeting gives this romance an urgent question: what is love worth when it means giving up luxury?
What you’ll discover
- A letter that wounds Feel Eliot’s disbelief as a written farewell threatens the future he believes is his.
- Beauty around a painful meeting Enter a sunlit Italian garden where flowers and splashing water surround a bitter conversation.
- The pull of comfort Meet a woman whose weariness with poverty makes beautiful possessions difficult to surrender.
- Hope hardening into anger Watch Eliot’s confidence falter as the woman he loves insists that money matters.
- Love under painful pressure Explore longing, pride, and loyalty in a romance that gives difficult feelings room to unfold.
Who will love it
Readers who love romances with a brave heroine, village gossip, seaside cottages and Swiss mountains will enjoy this book. So will anyone who likes trust and temper, old secrets and two very different suitors.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Betrayal teaches Eliot to expect pain
- Ann carries a promise into love
- An innocent night leaves dangerous evidence
- A fresh start brings Eliot closer
- Brett treats desire as a claim
- Old memories interrupt a new love
- Love fails when trust is withheld
- Ann faces another test of loyalty
- Trust matters more than appearances
Who’s who
- Ann LovellA brave, warm-hearted young woman who works for her living and has promised to keep her friend Tony out of trouble.
- Eliot CoventryThe gray-eyed owner of Heronsmere, wounded by an old betrayal and slow to trust, yet deeply drawn to Ann.
- Brett ForresterA red-haired yachtsman and gambler who wants Ann for himself and stops at nothing to get what he wants.
- Tony BrabazonA charming, hot-tempered young man whose love of gambling worries everyone who loves him, especially Ann.
- Cara HilyardA beautiful widow who moves into the Priory carrying a painful past and a wish to put things right.
- Lady Susan HallettA sharp-witted, kind-hearted woman with a pack of dogs, who loves Ann like a daughter and wants the best for her.
- Robin LovellAnn's steady brother, an estate agent who longs to make a home for his sister and finds new hope.
- Brian TempestThe gentle, humorous rector of Silverquay, who believes in kindness and the power of thought.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- 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 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
The Vision of Desire 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.
The Vision of Desire
by Margaret Pedler · 1922
One missed mountain train in Switzerland costs Ann Lovell the man she loves, and Silverquay starts to talk.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 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
In short
A night on a Swiss mountain, a name in a hotel register and a sprig of heliotrope decide whether two people find happiness in The Vision of Desire, a romance by Margaret Pedler. What would you do if a promise to a dying friend could cost you the man you love?
The Vision of Desire at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 50 min5 h 25 min fast, 8 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 97,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1922by Margaret Pedler
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
Eliot loses his faith in an Italian garden
The book opens with a letter. A young man named Eliot reads that the woman he loves cannot marry him and that he must forget the night before. He strides along the dusty road to the villa where she is staying.
She sits on a stone bench beyond the fountain and tells him plainly that she is sick of being poor. She has enjoyed a car, fine dresses and perfect service, and she cannot give them up. She has promised herself to a richer man. Something young and trusting dies in Eliot as she pleads that she did love him. He says he understands completely and walks away across the grass.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Pedler, Margaret. The Vision of Desire. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-vision-of-desire.
Pedler, M. (2026). The vision of desire. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-vision-of-desire (Original work published 1922)
Pedler, Margaret. The Vision of Desire. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-vision-of-desire.
@book{pedler2026vision,
author = {Pedler, Margaret},
title = {The Vision of Desire},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-vision-of-desire},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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 The Vision of Desire
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 The Vision of Desire about?
It follows Ann Lovell, who promises to protect a friend's gambling son, and Eliot Coventry, a landowner whose past makes him distrust love. A night on a Swiss mountain and a rival's schemes test whether love can survive doubt.
Who is Eliot Coventry?
Eliot is the gray-eyed owner of Heronsmere, an English country house. A painful betrayal in his youth has made him bitter and suspicious. He employs Ann's brother Robin, and his feelings for Ann grow against his will.
What does the title The Vision of Desire mean?
The title comes from the Rubaiyat verse at the start, about heaven as fulfilled desire and hell as a soul on fire. It points to longing, what people want, and what they pay for it.
The author
Margaret Pedler
1877–1948 · British romance novelist
Margaret Pedler was a British novelist born in London in 1877. She wrote fiction in English, including The Vision of Desire. Her novels were published during the first half of the twentieth century. Her first novel, The House of Dreams, appeared in 1917. She died in 1948.
More 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
