The story in one page
Augustine Guillaume lives on the Rue Saint-Denis, beneath the triangular roof of the Cat and Racket drapery shop. Her parents, Guillaume and Madame, enforce a monastic existence of ledger-keeping and strict curfews. When the painter Théodore de Sommervieux marries Augustine, he spirits her away from the family’s old-fashioned habits into his world of art and Parisian society. Augustine soon finds her husband disenchanted with the very provincial simplicity he once courted. As their marriage fractures, she seeks solace in her childhood home, only to find her sister, Virginie, occupying the same desk and maintaining the same rigid household structure she once fled. The shop remains a tomb of tradition, leaving Augustine adrift between two lives that offer no resolution to her isolation.
Who's who
- Augustine
A sheltered shop-girl who marries an artist and loses her way.
- Guillaume
A wealthy draper who values ledger balances over romantic sentiment.
- Théodore de Sommervieux
A painter who marries Augustine but eventually withdraws his affection.
- Virginie
Augustine's sister who maintains the family drapery traditions perfectly.
What it's really about
- Domestic Rigidity
- Life governed by ledgers and early bedtimes.
- Social Mismatch
- The friction between bourgeois stability and artistic temperament.
Why it's memorable
- The shop facade decorated with mysterious timber markings.
- Augustine returning home in a carriage to a family that barely notices her.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
Augustine ultimately fades away, finding that her romantic ambitions were simply transplanted too close to the sun, where storms and scorching heat destroy them.
For your book club
- Can a marriage bridge the gap between ledger-books and oil paintings?
- Why does Augustine's family prefer the quiet routine of drapery to her transformation?