Victor Hugo and the house which speaks for the dead
French Realist author Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Toilers of the Sea, lived in exile in Guernsey from 1856 to 1870. Hugo was thrown out of France for his Republican views in a stormy period between the Second and Third Republics.
Cosette by Émile Bayard, original book cover for Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
Guernsey is only a few miles off the French coast, and his country’s coastline is visible from the little room on the top floor where Hugo used to sleep and write.
Hugo wrote standing up in front of a long window, waking at 6am and writing until midday. He would lunch, swim in the cold sea and play with his children in the afternoons.
The home Victor Hugo built and decorated in Guernsey has been preserved by the City of Paris for the last 140 years. His tapestries still hang from the walls (and from the ceilings - a subversive act in those days).
In his dining room is an empty wooden throne. There are many inscriptions in the panels around his home, but the most touching pieces are dedicated to his daughter, who died at an early age.
In one, Hugo writes, “I am dust, you are ash.”
In the other, “The absent are always with us”.
Hugo was in exile during his time in Guernsey, and extremely politically conscious at this time. He put his political energies into his home.
I walked into a small seating area in his bedroom. A small inscription was written above the inside of the door, which read “ERROR TERROR”.
The Terror in the months after the French Revolution was a period in which thousands were killed. Hugo thought this Reign of Terror was a mistake, and weakened the Republican cause he was fighting for.
The inscription was well hidden. It was a voice from Hugo, ringing through history into the present day, a century and a half after the event.
The house is a fantastical place, and for aspiring writers, it is interesting to see how the prolific Realist writer lived out his days.
Writers can draw inspiration from his eclectic thoughts, his willingness to bend his environment to his political conscience, or his committed daily writing routine.
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