In the footsteps of Victor Hugo (and other great names)...
Many great writers have walked on the sand of our beaches, but it is perhaps the one who will be remembered the most. And for good reason, a part of his emblematic novel, Les Misérables, takes place in Montreuil-sur-Mer. It was after a trip to the North and to Belgium that Victor Hugo discovered the city in 1837, which he described to his wife in glowing terms: "Montreuil-sur-Mer would be better named Montreuil-sur-Plaine. From the ramparts one has a magnificent view of hills and meadows, for the town is high up." Years later, when he began writing Les Misérables, the memory was so vivid that he decided to set the first part of his plot in the city of the ramparts. The novel was published in 1862, and has since been considered an emblematic novel of French literature.
Twenty years earlier, the writer Alexandre Dumas also published another great classic whose action takes place partly on our coast, the famous novel The Three Musketeers. The writer decided to include scenes in Boulogne and Béthune, which he took care to visit to capture the atmosphere.
Among the other famous writers who came to our shores were J. R. R. Tolkien, Laurence Stern, Arthur Young, Paul Verlaine, C.S. Lewis... Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond character, left his mark in Le Touquet. The first James Bond novel, written in 1952, takes place in Royale-les-Eaux, an imaginary seaside resort whose rival is... Le Touquet! It must be said that the author is used to the resort and likes to stay there. At the very prestigious Westminster Hotel, you can find his portrait.
Many thrillers come to life
Among the many novels set on or about the Côte d'Opale, thrillers are one of the most popular genres. But what are they all looking for here? In an interview with La Voix du Nord, Franck Thilliez explained: "I really like the atmosphere of the North. The Côte d'Opale in particular is very inspiring And to France 3 régions, he confided, "I love the Côte d'Opale; for me, it's the most beautiful coastline you can come across, with magnificent beaches as far as the eye can see." Published in 2018, his novel Le Manuscrit inachevé (The Unfinished Manuscript) was partly set in Berck and the fort of Ambleteuse.
It's true that the Côte d'Opale is a land of contrasts. Sunny days give way to gray or rainy ones, changing both moods and atmospheres. Perhaps it's this duality that appeals so much to writers, the beauty of the opal sand beaches versus the gray days and sometimes heavy past of the region.
Other novels have taken up residence in our cities. Published in 2005, François Prunier's En terre hostile tells the story of the main character's encounter with a young boy, Diego, in Dunkirk. Diego tries to help the boy when his mother is murdered with knives, and he becomes the prime suspect. Writer Olivier Thérond chose to set three of his novels in the streets of Calais. Wimereus native Rosalie Lowie's Un bien bel endroit pour mourir (2017) starts with the discovery of a corpse on the cliffs of Pointe aux Oies. And in 2020, the crime novel L'Enfant retrouvé takes place on the Opal Coast, written by Etaples-sur-Mer native Franck Jendro.
The list is not exhaustive, of course, and illustrates just how much interest novelists have in our beautiful region, whose landscapes can be so striking.
Novels inspired by conflict
At the end of May 1940, Operation Dynamo or "Battle of Dunkirk" allowed the evacuation of more than 330,000 men - half of them Belgian and French - to the United Kingdom. Many French units found themselves surrounded in Dunkirk, where they had to put up a fierce resistance under fire. The city of Dunkirk was largely destroyed, and the wrecks of Zuydcoote can still be seen today at low tide. During this operation, 200 boats and more than 600 small boats were sunk, if not never found.
Thus, it is not surprising that many books have been published relating these facts. Weekend in Zuydcoote by Robert Merle (1949) is one of the best known and appreciated. It tells the story of the struggle of a group of soldiers trapped in Dunkirk to allow them to embark on a British ship. But many other novels can be read on the subject, adopting the points of view of the different actors and witnesses of the battle. Published in 1941 and now very rare, La Glorieuse histoire du Siroco (The Glorious Story of the Siroco ) by Pierre Varrillon tells the story of the heroic sacrifice of a French torpedo boat to allow the evacuation. Published in 1942, L'Épopée silencieuse by Georges Blond also tells the story of the conflict from the naval side. More recent books include Expiation by Ian MacEwan, Dunkerque, 1940 by Jacques Duquesne, and Dunkerque by Jacques Mordal. On the comics side, Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo by Pierre Dupuis provides scenes of conflict that are as realistic as they are gripping.
More recently in our history, the "Calais Jungle" is also the setting for many works. This term refers to all the camps that have hosted since 2000 and until 2016 thousands of migrants in sometimes precarious conditions in Calais. Thus, we find of course documentary works, such as the excellent La Jungle de Calais published in 2018, but also works of fiction.
Published in 2007, A l'abri de rien by Olivier Adam tells the story of Marie's encounter with these migrants, it was awarded the France Televisions novel prize. In La Mer à l'envers by Marie Darrieussecq published in 2019, a Parisian psychologist on a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea meets Younès, a migrant who is shipwrecked. On the thriller side, we can mention the excellent Entre Deux Mondes by Olivier Norek published in 2017: the author spent several weeks with migrants for his documentary work. On the comic side, also published in 2017, Des Nouvelles de la jungle by Yasmine Bouagga and Lisa Mandel testifies to the living conditions and the work of associations on site.
