Classic French Novels

Four of the best-known stories in French literature, read in the original with an original Lipi translation and pronunciation guide beside every line.

Studying for GCSE French (AQA 8652)? Real reading papers use short literary extracts like these - good wider reading, not just exam content.

⚔️

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas · 1844

The prison escape: Edmond Dantès takes the place of his dead friend in the burial shroud.

›

🗡️

Les Trois Mousquetaires

The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas · 1844

D'Artagnan arrives in Paris and duels Athos, Porthos and Aramis, all in one day.

›

🦊

Le Corbeau et le Renard · La Cigale et la Fourmi

The Crow and the Fox · The Grasshopper and the Ant

Jean de La Fontaine · 1668-94

Two of the most-taught fables in French schools, each with a sting in its moral.

›

👠

Cendrillon

Cinderella

Charles Perrault · 1697

The original French fairy tale behind the story everyone already knows.

›

All four works are in the public domain. The French text, English translation, transliteration and comprehension questions are original Lipi work, not copied from any published edition.