Par les anciennes rues
Travel and adventure
Une déviation impose à deux sœurs un passage dans leur ancien quartier.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Le petit escabeau
Friendship and family
Deux frères doivent vider une maison où chaque objet a une histoire différente.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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La voix de Suzanne
Fantasy
Une restauratrice de meubles prépare une demande qu’elle repousse depuis longtemps.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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La deuxième chaise
Romance
Une musicienne revient jouer dans la petite salle de son ancien compagnon.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Deux noms sous le vernis
Mystery
La restauration d’un tableau fait apparaître une signature que son cartel ne mentionne pas.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Suggestion numéro quatorze
Comedy
Une proposition anonyme prend un tour étonnamment public au bureau.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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La traversée de vingt heures
Travel and adventure
Une livraison dans le port demande de revoir un passage que chacun croit connaître.
Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.
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Classics available in LingoReader · Sign in to read
L'Assommoir
Friendship and family · History
Gervaise, a Parisian laundress, hopes to build a secure home and a successful business through hard work. In a neighborhood marked by precarious jobs and heavy drinking, her family's hopes become entangled with debt, temptation, and the hardships of working-class life.
Colloquial registers and specialized working-life vocabulary require broad reading experience.
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L'homme Qui Rit
History · Friendship and family
Gwynplaine, whose face was mutilated into a permanent smile as a child, grows up among traveling entertainers with the blind Dea. A startling connection to England's aristocracy draws him away from their shared life and into a world of privilege, spectacle, and political cruelty.
Dense descriptions, historical titles, and figurative reflections require advanced vocabulary.
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Contes du jour et de la nuit
Friendship and family · Mystery
These short stories uncover the passions, misunderstandings, and acts of cruelty hidden beneath ordinary routines. Moving between rural and urban lives, Maupassant brings humor and unease to encounters shaped by poverty, ambition, love, fear, and the surprising consequences of seemingly small decisions.
Compact plots help, while colloquial expressions and implied motives require attention.
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Lourdes
History · Friendship and family
A young priest struggling with his faith travels to Lourdes with a pilgrimage of sick people, including his childhood friend Marie. As hopes for miraculous healing fill the town, he confronts suffering, religious devotion, and questions about what belief can offer those in desperate need.
Clear scenes alternate with figurative descriptions and religious or medical vocabulary.
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Les enchantements de la forêt
Nature
Childhood adventures and country memories lead into portraits of the birds, plants, and people who inhabit the forest. Theuriet combines storytelling with close observation of woodland life, inviting readers to notice its everyday wonders, small dramas, and changing seasonal moods.
Concrete woodland observation uses varied nature vocabulary and descriptive sentence patterns.
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A level is a starting point.
These are approximate editorial reading guides, not certified CEFR assessments or a test of your proficiency. A classic’s range reflects this edition’s language; a short story’s label is its writing target. Familiarity with the subject and the help you use can change how a text feels.
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