Description

In the late 1850s, Celina, aged fifteen, born into poverty, takes up work as a chambermaid for the Victor Hugo family living in exile in Guernsey. There she encounters the delicate balance between the professional and the personal, and the obligations placed upon her as her livelihood is at stake.

Inspired by Hugo’s cryptic diary notes and by letters from his wife, Catherine Axelrad restores to life the girl whose untimely death shook the Hugo family, capturing the changing time in which she lived as well as life in the Channel Islands. In doing so, Axelrad sheds light on the complexity of Hugo’s private persona and cuts le grand homme down to size. Intimately involved with him, Celina remains at the margins of the poet’s creative life; she recounts her relationship both with the artist who is writing his Miserables by day and with the man who joins her at night.

First published by Editions Gallimard in 1997, this novella offers a singular perspective on matters of sexual consent and class dynamics: one which makes us take stock of social progress, but also wonder how far we have really come today.

Publisher Review

'Living in exile in the Channel Islands, the irrepressibly philandering author of Les Miserables went through what is called his "Chambermaid Period". In this moving short novel, Catherine Axelrad gives us the great man and his retinue, his house and his mania for Gothic decor, the island and the threatening sea, all through the eyes of a chambermaid-not a fantasy maid, but the real girl from Alderney whose death in 1861 saddened the whole Hugolian establishment. The poverty, ill-health and exploitation of working folk and especially of the young girls who are brought to life here deepen the understanding of what Hugo's great novel was really about. In this lively translation by Philip Terry, Axelrad's portrait of a normal yet unique Victorian household seen from "downstairs" is a true gem.' - David Bellos, author of The Novel of the Century. The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Miserables 'Seen through Celina's eyes, told with her curiosity, her wonder, her sharp observations, what we witness unfolding here is not so much Victor Hugo's life as that of the young narrator. We see the intelligence she brings to bear, playing her few cards just so in a time which may be the most patriarchal in our history: the nineteenth century. Catherine Axelrad describes a quiet young woman who nevertheless hears everything, sees everything, silently appraises her lovers, picks and chooses, and escapes submission in her own way. It's a joyful read.' - Colombe Schneck, author of The Paris Trilogy 'Pitch-perfect, and so light yet so profound. All of Axelrad's books have at their centre a silent, vulnerable young woman, but also one who is tough and resilient, totally unsentimental but deeply responsive and actually very intelligent. How such a person emerges out of such apparent silence is the wonder of her work. Celina is as quiet and devastating a novel as I have read in a long time. Unforgettable.' - Gabriel Josipovici, author of 100 Days "In this remarkable book Catherine Axelrad gives speech to a young woman born in poverty and almost lost to history. Celina is restored to life, emerging as lively, courageous, complex, witty, pragmatic, and joyful. There are moments of great tenderness and longing; despite her exploitation (for relations are often complicated, as Axelrad so subtly weaves), there is a real and delicate relation between her and her master, with whom she discovers the possibility of poetic language. Celina and Celina, woman and book, haunt me." - Sharon Kivland, author of Reading Nana: An Experimental Novel 'Catherine Axelrad's exquisite novella Celina, first published in 1997 (now in a transporting English translation by Philip Terry) is a plain, matter-of-fact and consequently very moving diary of a chambermaid. It carries no salaciousness, but stands for itself [...] Axelrad's dispassionate depiction of sullied innocence and forced compromise is brutal and devastating.' - Catherine Taylor, Irish Times 'What an unsettling of the statue of father Hugo! Refreshing.' - Elisabeth Lequeret, La vie 'A tender, melancholic tale where Catherine Axelrad has managed to avoid all pitfalls. Neither the story of the poor servant; nor that of the great discontent; nor that of the lascivious old man handing out two francs - scrupulously accounted for in his notebook - in return for special favours. No - only the true and touching voice of young Celina Henry, perfectly captured and wondrously restored, which the fine phrases overheard at Hauteville House have, if nothing else, helped liberate from those last sorry days.' - Mona Ozouf, L'Obs 'A Victor Hugo whom we do not know, for never had he been presented against this backdrop, nor indeed as part of the banal unfolding of daily life. A discovery, in fact, especially because he is not the book's main character. This is well and truly the story of Celina Henry, the maid, who discovers - and thereby enables us to discover - a man ultimately like so many others, with his ordinary share of qualities and flaws.' - Clement Borgal, La Republique du Centre