France! Just the name conjures images of Parisian cafes, dramatic history, rolling vineyards, and maybe even a bit of mystery. If you love getting lost in a story that transports you straight to another place, then you might enjoy these novels.
They are all set, at least partly, in France, and they cover everything from grand historical adventures and poignant wartime stories to tales of romance, intrigue, and everyday life. Let’s wander through France with these 34 books.
This monumental work takes you inside the mind of the narrator as he reflects on his life in early 20th-century France. Small things, famously the taste of a madeleine cake dipped in tea, unlock floods of memory.
You’ll move through high-society salons, visit summer resorts by the sea, and explore the complexities of love and social status. Proust spent over 13 years on these seven volumes, and they offer an incredibly detailed look at human emotions.
What a story! Alexandre Dumas, with help from Auguste Maquet, gives us Edmond Dantès. He’s a young sailor on the brink of happiness, then betrayal lands him in the terrifying island prison, Château d’If.
He escapes, finds a hidden treasure on the island of Monte Cristo, and reinvents himself as the wealthy, mysterious Count. His quest for revenge against the men who ruined his life is a thrilling ride through French society, full of secrets and surprising turns.
Victor Hugo transports you to 15th-century Paris, with the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral at the heart of everything. You meet Quasimodo, the cathedral’s bell-ringer, whose appearance isolates him, and Esmeralda, a Romani dancer full of life.
Their connection highlights love, prejudice, and social injustice. Hugo’s descriptions make the bustling medieval streets and the grand cathedral feel absolutely real.
This epic novel follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who seeks redemption after 19 years of hard labor for stealing bread. The relentless Inspector Javert dogs his steps through decades of French history, including the Paris Uprising of 1832.
You also meet the tragic Fantine, her daughter Cosette, and the young revolutionary Marius. It’s a powerful story about sacrifice, love, poverty, and the struggle for a better life. It’s one of the longest novels of its time; the original French edition was huge!
This Pulitzer Prize winner unfolds during World War II in occupied France.
We follow two young people: Marie-Laure, a blind French girl who flees Paris with her father and a possibly cursed diamond, and Werner, a German orphan whose skill with radios pulls him into the Nazi military.
Their separate paths eventually converge in the besieged coastal town of Saint-Malo. It’s a story about survival, connection, and moments of humanity found in the darkest times.
Prepare for something unique and unsettling. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in 18th-century Paris with an absolutely extraordinary sense of smell but no personal scent of his own.
His obsession is to capture scents, particularly the scent of certain young women, to create the ultimate perfume. This ambition leads him down a dark path of murder across France. It’s a strange and unforgettable journey into obsession.
Meet Emma Bovary. She’s married to Charles, a kind but unremarkable country doctor in provincial 19th-century France. Emma, however, yearns for the passion, luxury, and romance she reads about in novels. Her dissatisfaction leads her into secret affairs and deep debt.
Flaubert masterfully shows the clash between Emma’s dreams and the dull reality of her life, and the consequences are tragic.
This novel charts the rise of Julien Sorel, a clever and ambitious young man from a humble background in post-Napoleonic France. He wants desperately to climb the social ladder.
He uses his intelligence and charm, sometimes deception too, to navigate the worlds of the church (“the black”) and the military/aristocracy (“the red”).
His relationships with two very different women, Madame de Rênal and Mathilde de la Mole, drive his destiny in this sharp look at class, ambition, and passion.
“All for one, and one for all!” Join the young d’Artagnan as he arrives in 17th-century Paris, eager to become one of the King’s Musketeers. He quickly falls in with the famous trio: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
Together, they find themselves caught up in court intrigue, duels, and dangerous plots orchestrated by the powerful Cardinal Richelieu and the mysterious Milady de Winter. It’s pure adventure, loyalty, and swashbuckling fun.
Though partly set in London, much of the drama unfolds in Paris during the French Revolution. Dickens starts with the famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”
The story centers on Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat with a secret past, and Sydney Carton, a brilliant but cynical English lawyer who bears a striking resemblance to Darnay. Their lives become entangled with Lucie Manette amidst the revolutionary turmoil.
Expect sacrifice, love, and powerful scenes of historical upheaval.
This series of historical novels dives into the French monarchy in the 14th century. It begins with King Philip IV (“the Iron King”) destroying the Knights Templar. The Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, supposedly curses the king and his descendants from the execution pyre.
What follows is a gripping saga of power struggles, scandals, betrayals, and weak kings. The Capetian dynasty crumbles, and the throne becomes a prize fought over with ruthless ambition.
This book captures life in a fading industrial town in eastern France over four summers in the 1990s. We follow Anthony and his friends as teenagers who grapple with boredom, limited prospects, and dreams of something more.
Anthony struggles with his family background and wonders about his future. It’s a realistic picture of adolescence, first loves, and the weight of social class in a specific time and place.
Vianne Rocher and her young daughter Anouk arrive in the small, traditional French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. Vianne opens a chocolate shop, La Céleste Praline, right at the beginning of Lent.
Her delicious, almost magical creations begin to awaken the villagers’ suppressed desires and challenge the rigid morality enforced by the local priest. It’s a story about pleasure, tolerance, and the quiet battles between tradition and change.
Yes, this is the book the popular movie with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp was based on!
Another historical adventure from Dumas, set during the reign of the troubled King Henry III in the 16th century. The brave and dashing nobleman Bussy d’Amboise falls deeply in love with Diane de Méridor.
Unfortunately, she is married against her will to the cruel and powerful Count de Monsoreau. Bussy must navigate dangerous court politics and the king’s own volatile favorites while pursuing this forbidden love.
Narrated by François Seurel, this story remembers the arrival of the charismatic Augustin Meaulnes at his rural school. One day, Meaulnes gets lost and discovers a magical, dreamlike party at a hidden country estate. There he meets Yvonne de Galais and is instantly captivated.
The memory of this lost domain and the girl he met there haunts Meaulnes. He spends years searching for them again. It’s a beautiful, melancholic novel about adolescence, lost ideals, and the search for something magical.
Usually, it’s Inspector Maigret who solves the crimes, but this time his wife Louise gets involved. While waiting at the dentist’s office, she observes a strange incident involving a frantic woman and a mysterious bookbinder.
Her sharp observations provide crucial clues for one of her husband’s complex cases. It’s fun to see Madame Maigret step into the spotlight and use her own quiet intelligence.
Inspector Maigret investigates the murder of a wealthy old woman. Her nephew, a quiet, seemingly unremarkable retired factory manager, is the prime suspect. But as Maigret digs into the family’s respectable facade, he uncovers hidden tensions, secrets, and resentments.
It’s a classic Maigret mystery, where understanding the people involved is key to solving the crime.
Set in France during the Nazi occupation of World War II, this novel tells the story of two sisters who resist in very different ways.
Vianne Mauriac tries to keep her daughter safe in her small town after her husband goes to the front and a German officer requisitions their home. Her younger sister, Isabelle, is rebellious and impulsive.
Isabelle joins the French Resistance and risks her life to help downed Allied airmen escape over the Pyrenees. It’s a story of female courage and resilience during wartime.
These delightful stories, written by one of the creators of Asterix, offer a charming look at childhood in 1950s France.
Told from the perspective of young Nicolas, the book recounts his everyday adventures at school and at home with his group of friends (like the greedy Alceste or the rich kid Geoffroy).
The humor comes from the children’s misunderstandings and their earnest view of the adult world. Pure fun.
Anna Oliphant is not thrilled when her father sends her from Atlanta to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But then she meets Étienne St. Clair – smart, charming, handsome, with an English accent... and a girlfriend.
Their growing friendship unfolds against the backdrop of Paris – the cinemas, parks, and cafes. It’s a sweet and enjoyable story about finding your way, falling in love, and navigating friendships in a new city.
Meet Georges Duroy, a former soldier who arrives in Paris with little money but plenty of ambition and good looks. He discovers that his charm, especially with influential women, is his ticket to success.
He ruthlessly uses mistresses and manipulates connections to climb the social and professional ladder in the cynical world of journalism and finance in late 19th‑century Paris. It’s a sharp critique of ambition and corruption.
Part of Balzac’s huge “La Comédie Humaine” series , this novel follows Lucien Chardon, a talented young poet from the provinces who goes to Paris with dreams of literary fame and fortune.
He soon discovers the harsh realities of the publishing world, the compromises required for success, and the tempting but treacherous nature of Parisian high society. It’s a powerful story about ambition, disillusionment, and the cost of dreams.
This novel by the son of the famous Alexandre Dumas tells the tragic love story of Armand Duval, a young man from a respectable family, and Marguerite Gautier, a beautiful and sought‑after Parisian courtesan known for wearing camellias.
Despite the social barriers and Marguerite’s consumption (tuberculosis), they fall deeply in love. But societal pressures and Marguerite’s past create heartbreaking obstacles. It’s a poignant romance set against the backdrop of 19th‑century Parisian society.
“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines / Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines...” So begins this classic children’s book about the smallest and bravest of the girls, Madeline.
Under the care of Miss Clavel, Madeline is fearless – she isn’t afraid of mice, and she even smiles at the tiger in the zoo. When she gets appendicitis, her hospital stay becomes quite the adventure.
The charming rhymes and illustrations perfectly capture a child’s view of Paris.
Beneath the splendor of the Paris Opera House lurks Erik, the Phantom. He’s a disfigured genius who lives in the shadowy cellars. Erik becomes obsessed with the young soprano Christine Daaé and tutors her voice, helping her achieve stardom.
But his love turns possessive and dangerous. Christine finds herself caught between the mysterious Phantom and her childhood sweetheart, Raoul. Mystery, romance, and suspense fill the corridors of the opera house.
Written when Sagan was only 18, this novel caused quite a stir. It follows 17‑year‑old Cécile during a summer holiday on the French Riviera with her charming, hedonistic father, Raymond.
Their carefree existence is threatened when Raymond decides to marry the sensible, sophisticated Anne. Jealous of Anne’s influence and protective of her unconventional lifestyle with her father, Cécile concocts a plan with unexpected and tragic results.
It’s a cool, perceptive look at adolescent emotions and desires.
This is a raw and powerful novel about the brutal lives of coal miners in northern France in the 1860s. Étienne Lantier, a young man looking for work, arrives in the mining village of Montsou and gets drawn into the community’s struggles.
Zola vividly portrays the dangerous working conditions, the poverty, the simmering anger against the mine owners, and the eventual, devastating strike. It’s an intense look at social injustice and the fight for survival.
The adventure continues! Dumas reunites d’Artagnan and his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis two decades after their first escapades. France is now in turmoil during the Fronde, a period of civil war against the young King Louis XIV and Cardinal Mazarin.
The musketeers find themselves on opposing sides this time. Their loyalties are tested, but their friendship endures through daring escapes, political intrigue, and plenty of action.
This novel moves between two periods in France. We follow Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, before World War I. He has a passionate and illicit love affair with Isabelle Azaire, a married woman in Amiens.
Then, the story jumps to Stephen’s horrific experiences as an officer in the trenches of the Western Front during the war, including the underground world of tunnellers. The narrative also touches on later generations who uncover his story.
It’s a deeply moving book about love, war, and memory.
What if you could live forever? This philosophical novel explores that question through Fosca, a man born in 13th‑century Italy who gains immortality.
He recounts his long life – through centuries of European history, love affairs, wars, and revolutions – to Régine, a 20th‑century actress obsessed with achieving lasting fame.
Fosca’s tale reveals the potential burden and ultimate emptiness of eternal life when everyone you love must die. It makes you think about purpose and the meaning of human existence.
This heartwarming story takes place in a village high in the French Alps during World War II. Sébastien is a lonely orphan boy who befriends Belle, a large Pyrenean Mountain Dog mistakenly feared by the villagers as a sheep‑killer.
Sébastien protects Belle, and together they share adventures and loyalty against the stunning mountain backdrop. They even help refugees cross the border to safety. It’s a classic tale of the bond between a boy and his dog.
Set in the elegant but fading world of Belle Époque Paris, this novel explores the complex relationship between Léa de Lonval, a wealthy retired courtesan in her late 40s, and Fred Peloux, a handsome, spoiled young man known as Chéri, whom she has mentored and loved for years.
Their intense affair must end when Chéri enters an arranged marriage with a young woman his own age. The separation forces both Léa and Chéri to confront their true feelings and the passage of time. Colette’s writing is exquisite.
This was Colette’s first novel, and it introduces the witty, observant, and somewhat scandalous Claudine. The story follows her final year at a village school in rural France.
Claudine chronicles the antics of her classmates, the eccentricities of her teachers (including the flirtatious Mlle. Sergent and the imposing Mlle. Lanthenay), her own awakening desires, and the petty dramas of school life with sharp humor and a rebellious spirit.
During World War II, John Franklin, a British bomber pilot, has to crash‑land his damaged Wellington plane in occupied France. He and his injured crew are hidden by a French family at great risk to themselves.
Franklin, particularly suffering from a badly injured arm, grows close to the farmer’s daughter, Françoise, who cares for him. It’s a tense story of survival, courage, and the development of love under the constant threat of discovery by the Germans.