Victor Hugo’s Lost Letters

In this masterful work, Hichem Karoui explores the lesser-known aspects of Victor Hugo’s life through the lens of a contemporary thriller. The story begins with a chance discovery at the National Archives: a series of previously unpublished letters dating from 1843, a pivotal year for the writer.In present-day Paris, an archivist discovers unpublished letters attributed to Victor Hugo. What seemed to be nothing more than a literary curiosity soon becomes a historical enigma of unexpected magnitude.Élise Dumas is working in the archives when she unearths a secret correspondence carefully concealed amongst the papers of an old Parisian family. The letters reveal an intimate, passionate, vulnerable Victor Hugo - a far cry from the official image passed down by literary history.But these documents contain far more than a tale of forbidden love.Through cryptic symbols, veiled political references and clues hidden in the margins, Hugo seems to have left traces of a secret he wanted to protect at all costs. As Élise attempts to piece together the puzzle, she discovers that certain researchers, collectors and opportunists would stop at nothing to get their hands on these letters.Spanning 19th-century Paris and the present day, Les lettres perdues de Victor Hugo offers a fascinating immersion into the world of archives, memory and literary mysteries. Hichem Karoui has written a novel in which historical investigation becomes a deeply captivating human and intellectual adventure.Blending suspense, erudition and emotion, this book appeals as much to lovers of French literature as it does to readers of sophisticated historical thrillers.