Story summary
Краткое содержание: Любовь сегодня
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 10 parts
- Аудио скоро
A young painter in Paris slips away to meet Lionel, a rising politician, and her ordered life begins to unravel.
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Любовь сегодня — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 5 h 40 min4 h 30 min fast, 6 h 45 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 81 100
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1888by Даниэль Лесюёр
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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Любовь сегодня in short
The book follows one woman's love from a Paris pavement in December to the long consequences of that love. Renée Sorel is gifted, honest and trusting, and Lionel Duplessier is charming, vain and driven by money. Their affair grows from a day at Versailles into a hidden life at Clamart, with a child, a secret kept from a blind father and a loyal friend who sees too much.
What Любовь сегодня is about
What happens when a gifted young woman gives her whole heart to a man who loves himself first? Love Today opens on a cold December afternoon in Paris. Renée Sorel, a painter of twenty-two, walks along the Quai d'Orsay and meets Lionel Duplessier, the young chief of staff of a minister and the favourite of the statesman Léon Gambetta.
Daniel Lesueur wrote this novel of Belle Époque Paris. It follows one love affair from its first joy to its damage. You meet Renée and her blind father, the cruel charm of Lionel, and the quiet friend who watches them both.
Для кого. Readers who enjoy Paris in the 1880s, character-driven love stories and heroines who paint and feel deeply will love this novel. It also suits admirers of Balzac, Zola and Maupassant.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A painter meets the man she loves
The novel begins with a shudder. Renée Sorel is walking along the Quai d'Orsay after copying a painting at the Louvre when she sees Lionel Duplessier coming toward her. She has taken the long way on purpose, though she would be ashamed to admit it.
Lionel is twenty-four and already important. He is handsome, with long velvety brown eyes. He greets her warmly and invites her to warm herself by his office fire. Renée thinks she sees a noble, selfless young man. The narrator tells us that Lionel is silent in love on purpose, because soft looks work better on women than arguments.
There is a hint of danger in every detail. Renée is poor and supports her parents with her brushes. Lionel has said openly that he must marry a rich girl one day. She decides it will not matter, since she believes love can ask for nothing.
A good heart that explains away every warning is the story's first risk.
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A sheltered girl builds her own religion
Before the love story deepens, we learn who Renée is.
- 3Начните читать бесплатно
A declaration with no promise of marriage
In Lionel's office, with the fire crackling, he tells Renée that he cannot be her friend any longer, because he loves her.
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One Sunday in Passy and Versailles
The next morning Renée tries to stay home.
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The little house on Rue Chevert and the warnings
At first Renée feels no remorse at all.
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A ball, a promise and a silence
Renée soon has a worse fear.
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The nest at Clamart and a rival friend
Lionel keeps away until Renée must leave home.
- 8Начните читать бесплатно
Ambition and money drive the story
The book is not only about a lover who falls out of love.
- 9Начните читать бесплатно
How a society teaches women to know nothing
The second theme is society itself.
- 10Начните читать бесплатно
A narrator who comments, and objects that speak
Love Today is told by a narrator who is not shy.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Renée Sorel A young Paris painter of great talent and trust, she supports her parents and gives her heart wholly to Lionel.
- Lionel Duplessier A handsome, eloquent young politician and protégé of Gambetta, he wants fame and wealth and loves in a way that never costs him.
- Fabrice de Ligneul Lionel's loyal, shy and chivalrous friend, a viscount who works hard for a political career and admires Renée deeply.
- Mr. Sorel Renée's father, a blind university professor who writes a history of parliamentary government and has strong opinions on politics.
- Mrs. Sorel Renée's gentle, devout mother, who cares for her husband and wants only her daughter's happiness and safety.
- Gisèle d'Altenheim A rich banker's daughter and Renée's pupil, who commissions a portrait that wins a medal at the Salon.
- Mrs. Anderson A Frenchwoman who hosts weekly evenings for artists and writers, hoping to find husbands for her two daughters.
How it ends (spoiler)
Lionel's career collapses into scandal, and he dies in a duel with Jean d'Altenheim. Renée has long since stopped loving him. Her daughter Madeleine now lives with the Duplessier grandparents. Months later, Fabrice finds Renée near the Clamart house and again offers her his love. She refuses him gently, comparing exhausted love to the Indian river Sarasvati, which vanishes into the desert and cannot be recovered in its former purity.
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Вопросы о книге Любовь сегодня
What is Love Today by Daniel Lesueur about?
It follows Renée Sorel, a young Parisian painter, as she falls in love with Lionel Duplessier, an ambitious politician. Their affair brings a hidden pregnancy, a secret home at Clamart and a slow loss of trust, all set in early 1880s Paris.
Who is Lionel Duplessier based on?
Lionel is a fictional character, but the book places him beside real figures, above all the statesman Léon Gambetta, who is his patron and mentor. Lesueur uses Lionel to show how ambition and charm can shape a young politician.
Is Love Today a true story?
It is a novel, though it uses real history. Gambetta, Brisson and the Chamber of Deputies appear, and events such as the fall of Gambetta's government in January 1882 are real. Renée and her family are invented.
Is Love Today easy to follow?
Yes, the story moves from scene to scene with clear dates, places and characters. Letters, conversations and short narrator comments help you follow each turn, and the settings in Paris and Clamart are described vividly.
What is the main message of the book?
The book shows how sincerity without knowledge of the world can be crushed by selfish ambition and social rules. It argues that girls need honest education about life and that love measured by money cannot last.
Как сослаться на это издание
Lesueur, Daniel. Love Today. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-today.
Lesueur, D. (2026). Love today. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-today (Original work published 1888)
Lesueur, Daniel. Love Today. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-today.
@book{lesueur2026love,
author = {Lesueur, Daniel},
title = {Love Today},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/love-today},
note = {First published 1888}
}
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