Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. For today’s blog post, I have decided to share a list of some of my favorite French-language novels. To be clear, I have not had the pleasure of reading all of these in their original language, but I have read one in its original French language. I will not be ranking these books, as I encourage you to check them all out. Without further ado, let’s look at my five favorite French novels!
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
~Okay, so I had to begin with the one that I am sure is of absolutely no surprise. I adore this novel and its story of obsession and love. Erik is an iconic character, as is Christine, making this original novel incredible! You also get the full picture of the story, as most adaptations do not include the character of the Persian, who is a very important character in the novel. Of course, beyond the novel, this is also the basis of my favorite musical of all time!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
~I have long loved the story of Quasimodo and Esmerelda. The original novel is much darker than the Disney version, obviously. But this story did give us one of the darkest Disney films, with the absolutely iconic Disney villain song Hellfire. If you love the Disney version, I highly recommend reading the original book, but I will warn you that it is a very emotional read!
The Pure and the Impure by Collette
~Okay, so this was the hardest one to pick, as I adore all the works of Collette. But I decided to keep to just one novel by Collette to make the list, so I chose this iconic novel. I chose The Pure and the Impure because it was the closest that she ever wrote to a memoir. It is largely inspired by her life, and that makes this story of excess all the more interesting! Other incredible works by Collette include Gigi, Cheri, and The Claudine Novels!
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
~This is the only one that I have read in both French and English. The story is one of manipulation, sexuality, and scandal in pre-revolutionary France. Of course, this has been adapted into great films, including Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions! If you love the adaptations, I implore you to read the source material.
Melusine by Jean d’Arras
~Of course, I had to include the original written version of Melusine’s legend! As a Priestess of Melusine, I would be utterly remiss not to include this novel-length telling of her story as a favorite French-language novel. This novel holds such special importance to me as a literary telling of the legend of my beloved Melusine, and this oldest written telling of Melusine’s legend helped inform the structure of my seven-month-long online class, The Melusine Mysteries!
~I hope you have enjoyed this list of my favorite French novels. What is your favorite French novel? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the painting The Love Letter by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. I found the art on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Honore_Fragonard_The_Love_Letter.jpg.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries