4 h 42 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 42 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a conversation about desire crosses the boundaries of what society allows people to say?
The School of Girls belongs to the bold world of seventeenth-century French libertine writing. Linked to Michel Millot, this erotic prose work brings the body and desire into open conversation. Its dialogue form turns speech into a kind of teaching, giving voice to subjects that polite society keeps quiet.
Around this frank exchange stands a world of strict public order. The Catholic Church holds moral power, while the crown watches the press. Erotic books face suppression, and printers and sellers risk prosecution. Against that background, the work invites you to consider not just what people say about desire, but who has the power to silence them.
What you’ll discover
- Lessons through conversation Explore a dialogue form where one speaker guides another, and talk becomes the means of teaching.
- Desire spoken aloud Encounter frank sexual subject matter that challenges the silence of polite society.
- A closely watched world Consider the pressures surrounding erotic writing when church and crown seek control over print.
- An unsettled author's name Approach a work linked to Michel Millot, whose attribution remains uncertain rather than firmly established.
- The limits of permission Reflect on the long argument over censorship through writing that brings forbidden subjects into speech.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like the history of banned books, the French seventeenth century, or old writers who dressed bold ideas as a lesson and a joke.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lesson becomes a public danger
- The teacher has a hidden employer
- Ignorance leaves Fanchon open to persuasion
- Secrecy takes the place of honor
- Private words follow different rules
- Tenderness matters more than haste
- Watchful lives produce secret inventions
- Love moves between body and mind
- Keep watching the person who teaches
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 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
The School of Girls 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 School of Girls
by Michel Millot · 1655
Two cousins talk about desire and secrecy in a Paris book whose author is hanged in effigy.
Easy read2–5 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with easy 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
What happens when a book teaches girls what their mothers will not? In Paris in 1655, the answer is suppression, a fire at the foot of the gallows, and an author hanged in effigy.
The School of Girls at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 30 min2 h fast, 3 h slow
- Length
- 36,100 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1655by Michel Millot
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 cousins and a suitor set the scene
The book is built as two conversations between cousins, Susanne and Fanchon. A short note before them sets the frame. Robinet, the son of a Paris merchant, is handsome and rich enough to have left his father's trade for good society. He loves Fanchon, who is beautiful and very naive, because she has always been raised under her mother's wing.
His silence and her innocence keep him from winning her. So he enlists Susanne, a neighbor girl. She is more experienced and related to Fanchon. He wins her over with gifts, and she agrees to put curiosity into her cousin's head.
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 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1655
- Language
- English
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Millot, Michel. The School of Girls. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-school-of-girls.
Millot, M. (2026). The school of girls. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-school-of-girls (Original work published 1655)
Millot, Michel. The School of Girls. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-school-of-girls.
@book{millot2026school,
author = {Millot, Michel},
title = {The School of Girls},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-school-of-girls},
note = {First published 1655}
}
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 School of Girls
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 School of Girls about?
It is a dialogue between two cousins, Susanne and Fanchon. Susanne, hired by a young suitor named Robinet, teaches Fanchon about love and secrecy, and the second dialogue builds a theory of desire, honor and marriage.
Who wrote The School of Girls and when?
It is credited to Michel Millot, also called Helot or Milot. It was printed in Paris before the testimony of 1655, burned, and is presented here in a reprint based on a Dutch counterfeit edition of 1668.
Why was The School of Girls banned?
The authorities in Paris learned of what the testimony calls a scandalous book and ordered searches to discover its author. Copies were burned and the author was hanged in effigy.
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
