The French are very attached to their rural past. Many French people born in the countryside move to Paris to work, but move back when they retire, or keep a second home in the country.

Large numbers of Aveyronnais, for example, moved to Paris to find employment and became one of the most visible and cohesive groups of provincial emigrants. Many of them opened bistros specialising in Aveyronnais dishes. They remain loyal to their home département and to the traditions of their youth.

End of an era

This attachment to provincial life has given rise to a genre of novel writing in France called ‘romans de terroir’ or country novels. Many of these novels describe the extensive changes that took place in rural life during the late 19^th and 20^th centuries, often through the prism of family history.

The agricultural revolution was slow in coming to France but, when it did, a way of life that had lasted for more than a thousand years was swept away in the space of about fifty. Mechanisation spelt depopulation: our own village numbered 4,000 inhabitants in 1900; now it has 1,500. The spread of universal education, paid holidays and better job prospects in the towns also made young people turn their backs on the land.

The turmoil of World War I had a profound effect on the countryside. The flower of French youth was mown down, as the monuments des morts in even the tiniest villages testify. Much farmland reverted to nature, lacking enough hands to cultivate it. Defeat and occupation by the Germans in World War II also left deep scars, which are still evident, even today.

The Brive school

Romans de terroir often chronicle these events. They are frequently set in southwest France. The best-known exponents of this type of fiction are probably Claude Michelet and Christian Signol, but there are many others. There is even a ‘Brive school’ of writing, established in the 1980s around the Brive-la-Gaillarde Book Fair. Claude Michelet, who lives near Brive, is one of its most prominent members.

Some suggestions

Here are some of my favourites: there are many more. Some of Michelet’s novels are translated into English and are available on Amazon (I indicate these below). I am surprised to see that none of Signol’s, Anglade’s or Crozes’ novels appears to be available in English. Maybe there isn’t a market for this type of novel, or maybe it’s just too difficult to translate some of the nuances.

Des Grives aux Loups, Claude Michelet

Part I – Des Grives aux Loups (Firelight and Woodsmoke); Part II – Les Palombes ne passeront plus (Applewood); Part III – L’appel des engoulevents (Scent of Herbs); Part IV – La Terre des Vialhe (not translated?)

This is a fantastic series by the doyen of le roman de terroir. This has to be Michelet’s best work: I find some of his others disappointing by comparison. It chronicles the history of the Vialhe family in the Corrèze from 1900 up till about 1988. It’s all there: the agricultural revolution, rural depopulation, World War I, World War II, the desertion of the village by the younger generation and a panoply of realistic and well-drawn characters.

Michelet originally intended to finish the saga at the end of the third book, but under pressure from his public and publishers, he wrote a fourth. In my opinion, that was a mistake: it’s not bad, but it lacks focus.

Also worth reading by Michelet:

• Les promesses du ciel et de la terre: three-volume saga of two French couples who move to South America in the mid-19^th century and eventually get involved in the construction of the Panama Canal. Not strictly a roman de terroir, but they all suffer in different ways from homesickness for France. 

La Rivière Espérance, Christian Signol

Part I – La Rivière Espérance; Part II – Le Royaume du Fleuve; Part III – L’âme de la Vallée

Signol is a prolific exponent of this type of novel. He has written a number of family sagas. Latterly, his novels have focused on a single character from cradle to grave. I find them less satisfying.

This three-volume saga deals with a family of bâteliers, or barge-owners, who plied the River Dordogne in flat-bottomed boats. They brought wood, coal and cheeses from the upper reaches of the river and brought back wine, fish and salt from Bordeaux. It was hard, dangerous work, requiring a thorough knowledge of the river and its currents and hazards. The coming of the railway brought about the end of this ancient line of work.

Also worth reading by Signol:

• Marie des Brebis: true story of a woman abandoned at birth in 1901 and brought up by a shepherd, who lived a simple life on the Causse de Gramat (Lot).
• Ce que vivent les homes: two-volume saga of the Barthélémy family in the uplands of the Corrèze, 1900-2000.

La Soupe à la Fourchette, Jean Anglade

Delightful, bittersweet tale of a little girl, Zenaïde Pujol, who is evacuated from Marseille during World War II and ends up in the Cantal with a farming family, three generations of which live in the same household. She might as well have come from Mars. To start with, she and the family have trouble understanding each other, the Auvergnat customs and lifestyle are totally different from Marseille city-life and the young son of the family, Adrien, is jealous because his mother is kind to Zenaïde. Eventually, the two children become inseparable, but Zenaïde has to return to Marseille when the war ends. The book ends mysteriously and sadly.

La Gantière, Daniel Crozes

Daniel Crozes writes with passion about his native Aveyron. In addition to novels, he has written several guidebooks and books about ancient crafts.

Much of the action in this novel takes place in Millau, but I still count it as a roman de terroir because the heroine never renounces her attachment to her native countryside. At the beginning, farmer’s daughter Alice works in the cheese caves at Roquefort (click here for a post I wrote about the cheese). She gets the sack for joining a strike and ends up in Millau working for one of the glove factories.

Millau once had a thriving glove making industry, using sheepskins from the nearby causses. Alice eventually sets up on her own account and the novel recounts the ups and downs of the glove making industry through the 20^th century.

See also my other posts about French novels:

French novels: ten of the best numbers 1-5

French novels: ten of the best numbers 6-10

The top ten Maigret novels

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