historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
romance novels written by French author
Anne Golon
Anne Golon (17 December 1921 – 14 July 2017) was a French author, better known to English-speaking readers as Sergeanne Golon. Her ''Angélique'' novels have reportedly sold 150 million copies worldwide and have inspired multiple adaptations. ...
. Originally published from 1957 to 1985, the novels have reportedly sold 150 million copies worldwide and have been adapted into six feature films, several theatre productions, a Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...
series, and a French " global manga" comic book series. Only ten of the thirteen novels have been translated into English.
Plot
The eponymous protagonist, Angélique Sancé de Monteloup, is a 17th-century woman born into the provincial aristocracy in the west of France. In successive books, she marries at a young age the romantic and talented Joffrey de Peyrac,
Count of Toulouse
The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings,
the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundi ...
; gets her domestic bliss destroyed when King
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ve ...
has her husband executed on trumped up charges; descends into the underworld of Paris; emerges and through a turbulent second marriage gets admittance to the court at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
; loses her second husband in war, just as she had started to truly love him, and subsequently refuses to become the King's mistress; finds that her first husband is after all alive but is hiding somewhere in the Mediterranean; sets out on a highly risky search, gets captured by pirates, sold into slavery in
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...
, taken into the harem of the
King of Morocco
This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used.
The present King of Moroc ...
, stabs the King when he tries to have sex with her, and stages a daring escape along with a French slave who becomes her lover; gets back to France, only to be put under house arrest in her ancestral home and raped by rampaging royal soldiers, which arouses the province to a rebellion which is brutally put down; finds refuge with a
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...
family and – just as they are threatened by the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without ...
– is saved in the nick of time by her long-lost first husband appearing at
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
and taking them all to America in his ship; and also being reunited with her children, whom she had thought dead but were alive and well in America. Then follow many more adventures in
colonial North America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
– specifically, in French
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early 18t ...
– involving French and English settlers, tribal natives and pirates.
Angélique and the King
''Angélique and the King'' (french: Angélique et le Roy) is a 1959 novel by Anne Golon and Serge Golon, the second novel in the ''Angélique'' series. Inspired by the life of Suzanne de Rougé du Plessis-Bellière, known as the Marquise du ...
'' (, 1959)
* ''Angélique and the Sultan'' (, 1960)
* ''Angélique in Revolt'' (, 1961)
* ''Angélique in Love'' (, 1961)
* ''The Countess Angélique'' (, 1964)
* ''The Temptation of Angélique'' (, 1966)
* ''Angélique and the Demon'' (, 1972)
* ''Angélique and the Ghosts'' (, 1976)
* (1980)
* (1984)
* (1985)
Adaptations
Films
The novels were adapted into a series of five films directed by
Bernard Borderie Bernard Borderie (10 June 1924 in Paris – 28 May 1978 in Paris) was a French film director and screenwriter. His father, Raymond Borderie, was one of the producers of '' Les Enfants du Paradis'' (''Children of Paradise'', 1945).
Selected filmogra ...
in the 1960s, in a co-production between France, Italy, and Germany. The films starred Michèle Mercier as Angélique and
Robert Hossein
Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in '' Vice and Virtue'', '' Le Casse'', '' Les Uns et les Autres'' and '' ...
as Jeoffrey de Peyrac.
* (1964)
* (1965)
* (1966)
* (1967)
* (1968)
A new film adaptation of the first novel was directed by
Ariel Zeitoun
Ariel Zeitoun (born 26 September 1949) is a French director, producer, and screenwriter.
Zeitoun started as a producer in 1979 with '. Later, he wrote the script for and directed '' Souvenirs, souvenirs''.
In 2013 Zeitoun directed the historic ...
in 2013. It starred
Nora Arnezeder
Nora Arnezeder (born 8 May 1989) is a French actress and singer. The recipient of a Lumières Award, she is an accomplished actress in the French film industry.
Early life
Arnezeder was born in Paris, France. Her father Wolfgang Arnezeder is A ...
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...
series, , written and illustrated by Toshie Kihara, was serialized in the Japanese manga (girls' comics) magazine ''
Princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a sub ...
'' from 1977 to 1979. It was later collected as five (book volumes) by the Japanese publisher
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo
is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.
A " global manga" series, ''Angélique'', written by Oliver Milhaud and illustrated by Dara, was published as three
graphic novels
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
by the French publisher
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium.
History
The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller or ...
from 2015 to 2016.
Theatre
Two musicals, inspired by the 1977 manga adaptation and directed by , were staged at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre and the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre in Japan in 1980. The first, , was performed by the all-female
Takarazuka Revue
The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japane ...
's Moon Troupe. The second, , was performed by the Snow Troupe.
A play, , directed by Robert Hossein, was staged at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France, from 1995 to 1996. It starred Cécile Bois as Angélique, with Hossein reprising his 1960s film role as Joffrey de Peyrac.
Another musical, ''Angelika'', was staged at the
Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2007, 2010, 2016, and 2018.