Sign-In
Cart
Charlotte Temple
Paperback
Classic FictionHistorical FictionLiterary Fiction
Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
Published: Mar 1 2026
Pages: 162
Weight: 0.50
Height: 0.37 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Charlotte Temple is the story of the titular young woman who becomes entangled in a love affair with a lieutenant in the British army. Encouraged by her wayward teacher, Mademoiselle La Rue, Charlotte leaves behind her boarding school and absconds to America along with her seducer, lieutenant Montraville, and his friend Belcour. Far from her home in England, Charlotte's notions of purity, romance, and familial devotion are quickly brought into stark conflict as she experiences the pain of misplaced trust and betrayal on the unfamiliar shores of New York.The novel, first published in 1791, quickly became a bestseller, and remained the best-selling novel in American literature until it was unseated in 1851 by Uncle Tom's Cabin. Charlotte Temple is a novel by British-American author Susanna Rowson, originally published in England in 1791 under the title Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. It tells the story of a schoolgirl, Charlotte Temple, who is seduced by a British officer and brought to America, where she is abandoned, pregnant, sick and in poverty. The first American edition was published in 1794 and the novel became a bestseller.It has gone through over 200 American editions. Late in life, the author wrote a sequel that was published posthumously.
The book relates the tale of Charlotte Temple, who is enticed by a dashing soldier, John Montraville, to run away with him, but after they cross to America, he abandons her. It belongs to the seduction novel genre popular in early American literature.
The novel opens upon an unexpected encounter between the British Lieutenant Montraville and Charlotte Temple, a tall, elegant girl of 15. Montraville sets his mind on seducing Charlotte and succeeds with the help of his libertine friend Belcour and Mademoiselle La Rue, a teacher at the boarding school Charlotte attends. Mademoiselle La Rue had herself eloped from a convent with a young officer and possessed too much of the spirit of intrigue to remain long without adventures. Montraville soon loses interest in the young girl and, being led by Belcour to believe in Charlotte's infidelity towards him, trusts Belcour to take care of Charlotte and the child she expects.
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories
Baughman, Judith
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Bruccoli, Matthew J.
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Vermilye, Alan
Bunyan, John
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Shelley, Mary
Paperback