The Red Lily tells of the affair between a woman of the world, married to a politician, with an artist. A trip to Florence (which symbolizes the title) crowns this carnal and mystical union. Soon, jealousy insinuates itself into the lover's heart, who ends the affair. This novel by Anatole France, unique in its genre, now rehabilitated and returned to fashion, is partially autobiographical, since it is based on the, at first passionate affair, between the author and Mrs. de Caillavet.