Célina

“It is short, delicate, fragmentary. It is that work of historical fiction which makes no compromises in telling us what it really have been like to be a poor person living in that period. At the centre of this world is Célina, a maid servant whose life is tragic. She gets the opportunity to take a job in Victor Hugo’s household, then she has an affair with Hugo. This is a difficult book to read in the modern context. We want to feel outraged because this is a young and powerless girl having sex with a rather hideous older man. But she feels tenderly towards Hugo. So the novel is, among other things, a matter-of-fact account of a totally powerless woman who finds small pleasures where she can.” Read more...

Historical Novels About Women Written Out of History

Alice Jolly, Novelist