Read La Princesse de Clèves in Frenchwith every sentence explained

La Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette was first published in 1678. In Passage you read the full text in the original French, marked advanced and filed under historical fiction and romance.

The most brilliant court in Europe. A young heiress. One dance that changes everything.

In the last years of Henri II's reign, the court of France glitters with beauty, ambition and intrigue. Into it steps Mademoiselle de Chartres, a dazzling young heiress raised by her mother to value virtue above all. She causes a sensation and soon marries the Prince de Clèves, who adores her. She respects him deeply, but her heart remains untouched.

Then, at a royal ball, she dances with the Duc de Nemours, the most charming man at court. From that moment, every glance and every whisper becomes a danger to her peace and her reputation, in a world where everyone is watching everyone else.

Published anonymously in 1678, The Princess of Cleves is often called the first modern French novel and a pioneer of psychological fiction. This edition opens with an English introduction, followed by the original French text.

Passage sets the book as a quiet, paginated reader in French. Read at your own pace, and when a sentence stops you, tap it. You get:

• a natural translation of that exact sentence,
• a short note on the grammar, in plain words,
• the key words, which you can save with the sentence they came from,
• all of it in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Turkish or Portuguese, whichever you read best.

It's marked advanced, with richer vocabulary and longer sentences. If it feels heavy, start with an intermediate French book and come back to it. The words you save come back later in short review games, so the book keeps teaching after you close it.