26 February: Victor Hugo

Born on this date in 1802 was Victor Hugo, the French writer, author of Notre-Dame de Paris (aka the Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Les Misérables. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Eastern France. His father was Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo, known as Léopold, a general in the Napoleonic army, and his mother's name was Sophie Trébuchet. Around June 1801, Léopold's army duties had him battling smugglers in the mountains. One day he was up on Mount Donon with Sophie, 3000 feet above sea level, doing what came naturally. The result was Victor. Léopold told his son he was destined to be a genius because he was conceived at such a great height. Today, the location of Hugo’s conception is marked with a stone tablet which reads: “In this place / on 5 floreal, year 9 / Victor Hugo / was conceived."
2. Hugo was 21 when he wrote his first novel. It was called Han d’Islande (Hans of Iceland). His second, Bug-Jargal followed 3 years later.
3. When suffering from writer's block, his solution was to shut himself in a room with no distractions, not even his clothes. He'd write naked, having asked his servants to take his clothes away and not return them until he'd done his writing for the day.
4. As well as writing novels, he also wrote plays and poetry, and not only that, he was an illustrator, too. However, he wanted to be seen as a writer rather than an artist and so only shared his drawings with family and friends. Hugo’s drawings were relatively small, and usually done in black and white.
5. He was very involved in politics and activism. He fought for social reform, free education and the abolition of the death penalty. His most famous novels had political motives behind them – Les Misérables highlighted the conditions under which poor people lived, and in France, was denounced for portraying the revolutionaries in a bad light and encouraging riots. It was even banned by the Catholic church, but was well received outside of France. It was particularly popular among soldiers in the American Civil War. Hugo also published a short novel, Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man), which described the thoughts of a man condemned to death by the guillotine. The novel raised awareness of how brutal the death penalty was and has been credited with prompting countries like Portugal and Colombia to abolish the death penalty.
6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, too, had a political motive behind it. Hugo wanted to raise awareness of the state of disrepair the magnificent cathedral had fallen into and the importance of preserving Gothic architecture. The book contains long descriptions of the building, and to Hugo, the building was the principal character. Hence he was not happy when the English translation ended up being called The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Nevertheless, his ploy worked and led to major renovations and restorations of the cathedral.
7. Hugo wasn't happy with Napoléon III's proposed anti-parliamentary constitution in 1851. He publicly denounced Napoléon as a traitor to France, which led to him being forced into exile. He fled to Brussels, and then to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Hugo lived in exile from 1855 to 1870. It was a productive time for him. While he was exiled, he published pamphlets and completed and published Les Misérables.
8. He sounds like something of a sex addict. He married his childhood sweetheart Adèle Foucher. He might have married her sooner, but for the fact his mother didn't like her and so they couldn't marry properly until after his mother's death. Hugo boasted that he made love to his wife nine times on his wedding night. Adèle wasn't always as willing as Victor would have liked, and so he had numerous affairs and was sexually active well into his old age. At 70, he courted a woman who was just 22, and at 80, he was said to have made a successful pass at his maid. His affairs seem to have numbered in the hundreds. One of his mistresses, Juliette Drouet, was so obsessed with Hugo that she went into exile with him. Another was Léonie d’Aunet, a married woman. When they got caught in the act in 1845, was sentenced to 2 months in prison, and another 6 months at a convent, while Hugo got off Scot free. We know about his liaisons because he wrote about them in his diary and know that his conquests included servants, maids, actresses, prostitutes and revolutionaries like Louise Michel. The initials S.B. found in one of his diaries could even refer to the actress Sarah Bernhardt.
9. In spite of all that, he stayed married to his wife for 50 years, until she died. They had five children. One son died in infancy. One of his daughters, Léopoldine, died tragically at the age of 19. She was out boating with her new husband when the boat turned over and she drowned, thanks to the heavy skirts women wore in those days. Her husband drowned, too, trying to save her. Hugo was away travelling in the South of France at the time, and first heard the news when he read it in a newspaper he picked up in a café.
10. Brought up as a Catholic, Hugo distanced himself more and more from the church during his lifetime. Whether it was because he thought the church didn't do enough to help the poor or because the church banned his books we don't know. He didn't lose his belief in God or life after death. He described himself as a free-thinker – he prayed daily and wrote, "Thanksgiving has wings and flies to its right destination. Your prayer knows its way better than you do". He dabbled in spiritualism, too, attending séances. Hugo died at the age of 83 in Paris, having left a note reading "To love is to act", and a will stipulating that he wanted to be buried without any Catholic rites. He is venerated as a saint in Vietnam, in the religion Cao Dai. The reason? He is said to have made contact with devotees during séances, along with Thomas Jefferson, and Joan of Arc.

Who's That Girl?

Matt Webster lives in a tower block and attends a failing school. He dreams of being a spy like James Bond. Little does he know that he is being watched by someone who can make him into even more than that – a superhero.

His first solo mission is to attend a ball at the Decembrian Embassy and discover who is planning to steal a priceless diamond. While there, he meets the mysterious Lady Antonia du Cane, and is powerfully drawn to her. It soon becomes clear, however, that Lady du Cane is not what she seems. Matt’s quest to discover who she really is almost costs him his career.

A modern day Guy Fawkes gathers a coterie around him with the aim of blowing up Parliament with a nuclear bomb. To achieve this, they need money. Lots of it. Selling the Heart of Decembria Diamond will provide more than enough. All that stands in their way is the Freedom League – but the League is beset by internal disagreements. Can the heroes put their differences aside in time to save the day?

Prime Minister Richard Miller and his wife Fiona grieve for their daughter, Yasmin, who has been missing for three years, and is presumed to be dead. Viper agent Violet Parker could hold the key to what happened to Yasmin, but Violet is accused of giving away the organisation’s secrets. She is to be executed without trial. Will she take her knowledge of what happened to Yasmin with her to her grave?

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-Book