How 'The thirteen Winds' was born... by Juliette Benzoni

excerpt from the exclusive, specially illustrated Dossier for readers of Club France Loisirs.

For 'Les Treize vents', the initial process was the same. On my first trip to Canada, I fell in love with Quebec at first sight: the great estuary, the islands, the citadel, the Plains of Abraham, the old town with its steep streets and grey houses where the snow still lingered, the majesty of a setting where a great tragedy had been played out fascinated me and I wanted to know more. (Particularly about the siege of 1759, at the end of which France, through the negligence of its government and the treachery of a few men, lost the immense territory that should have been the finest jewel in its crown....) ℐuliette ℬenzoni
 

Synopsis : Le Voyageur / Juillard 1992

The Traveller



Loin de la cour de Louis XVI, à Valognes, cité normande, l'aristocratie locale se prépare à recevoir Guillaume Tremaine, un étrange personnage, prince ou coureur des mers, de retour des Indes. Tous ignorent que l'histoire de ce voyageur a commencé vingt ans plus tôt lorsque, fuyant Québec assiégée par les Anglais, Guillaume et sa mère vinrent se réfugier à Valognes. C'est là que l'enfant perdit le seul être qui lui était proche et fut recueilli par un vieux marin... Mais aujourd'hui, dans les salons, on ne parle que des fiançailles de Mlle Agnès de Nerville, sacrifiée par son père au vieux baron d'Oisecour, de sinistre réputation! Un mariage que Guillaume pourrait empêcher, s'il acceptait de renoncer à la mystérieuse obsession de vengeance qui l'habite au plus profond de son être.



À Élisabeth Gille, sans qui ce livre ne serait pas, ainsi qu'à mes amis du Québec et à ceux du Cotentin... Avec tendresse... ℐℬ
[To Élisabeth Gille, without whom this book would not be possible, and to my friends in Quebec and Cotentin... With tenderness]... ℐℬ

Élisabeth Gille (Epstein) translator, literary editor and author
 

The refugee



As the Revolution rumbles on in Paris, Guillaume Tremaine, a wealthy Norman gentleman, struggles with matters of the heart. Torn between Agnès, his lawful wife, and Marie-Douce, his childhood sweetheart, Guillaume soon has to choose.
Marie-Douce tells him she is pregnant. Naturally, Agnès discovers her misfortune and lashes out. From then on, a wave of disasters sweeps through the Thirteen Winds.
Perhaps everything could still be arranged if odious schemers were not at work in the shadows, if Guillaume did not suddenly disappear, if Agnès - at a time when the Revolution was tipping over into the Terror - did not say she was ready to do anything to save the King, and if a mysterious Knight of Malta did not turn up at the Thirteen Winds...
 

The intruder



Autumn 1802.
Eight years after the death of his wife, Agnès, on the scaffold, and after the separation from Marie-Douce, his only love, Guillaume Tremaine is tragically caught up in the past: Marie-Douce, in her death throes, calls him to England to entrust him with Arthur, their illegitimate son. Things do not go smoothly.

The boy rejects this prodigal father, his authority, his protection, this family who can only see him as an intruder.
The peaceful Adam, William's youngest son, fiercely resists the newcomer. But will Elisabeth, the eldest, as impetuous as she is generous, accept this half-brother, the indirect cause of her mother's tragedy?

Then Lorna, Arthur's half-sister, arrives, a dazzling creature with the most troubled plans in her wake: to seduce William, rule over his fortune and sow discord among the Thirteen Winds.
Will she succeed? Will the lord of the manor be able to save his family, which until now has been protected from everyone? Will he have to sacrifice his daughter's love for his honour?...
 

The exile



Guillaume Tremaine has been living in hell ever since his daughter Elisabeth disappeared. The only clue was a note from her, in cryptic terms: "I have found the man I never hoped to see again...". And so the master of the Thirteen Winds sets off, in a Bonapartist Paris in the hands of the spies of the shadowy Fouché, in pursuit of the mysterious Prince Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy, son of Louis XVI! Elisabeth has fled with the young heir, her childhood sweetheart. Unusual escapes, plots, all sorts of adventures await William, but none more formidable than the one in store for him by his niece Lorna, who reigns as undisputed mistress of the estate. Is she not expecting Guillaume's future child?

extract from the article 1995

Behind the picture windows, framed by green plants, a wisteria is tied to the balustrade. A bouquet is wilting on the table. Juliette Benzoni has lived here since 1973, but it doesn't take centuries for the place to forge a soul. A few sailboats hang on the walls, no doubt out of nostalgia for the sea, for the Cotentin region where she likes to spend her holidays and where episodes of Treize Vents take root... more details → here

~ critique by Anne-Marie Koenig  ~  [ in Point de Vue]

Life and Sensibility :

« Juliette Benzoni has launched a new series of novels, the first volume of which is entitled Le Voyageur (The Traveller). We are in Quebec in 1759, when the city is under siege from the English. This historical novel is full of life and sensitivity. The truth of the places and people gives it a kind of timelessness that only great novelists can achieve. »

~ critique by Christian Signol  ~  [in le Populaire du Centre]

A marvellous Novel :

« Adventures, love and revenge, a wonderful popular novel with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat right to the end. We can't wait for the sequel »

~ Femme actuelle ~ 

A superb Roman :

« This novel is a fresco of romance so rich in events and characters that it will keep you on the edge of your seat, breathless and heart pounding... A superb novel that will enthrall our readers »

~ crtique by La Gazette provençale  ~ 

 

An unexpected discovery...

I'm sure you've had the same experience: someone has recommended a new author who writes exciting crime series!
So it was only natural that I should be interested in reading 'Still Life' a novel (2005) by Louise Penny, the bestselling Canadian author of gripping crime novels featuring Inspector 'Armand Gamache' of the Sûreté du Québec. The 'Louise Penny' series, which now includes eighteen books, has been translated worldwide and has been the subject of television films.

According to the internet, the first novel was translated into French in 2010, under the title 'Nature Morte' or 'Un plein cœur'. I don't know if Juliette got in touch with Louise Penny, because I'm sure these two very talented women would have had a lot to talk about. Why, you ask, am I convinced of this?

In Juliette's Palmarès, with one exception, it's a family story, reminiscent of the four-volume family saga "Les Treize Vents" ( The Thirteeen Winds) from 1992 (Juillard). The story begins when our hero, then aged nine, "Guillaume Tremaine" flees Quebec 1759, which has been under siege by the English for two months...
Louise Penny's sixth novel "Bury your dead" focuses on the period of the war that Juliette describes at the beginning of the first volume. The Traveller.

I can tell you it gave me chills, apart from the fact that the Canadian writer's pen is breathtaking - and... it was further proof of Juliette's precise research. I'd like to end my text with Juliette's words and I hope you'll be seduced into re-reading Juliette's 'Les Trèize Vents' and maybe even start reading Louise Penny's Inspector Armand Gamache mysteries... Linda, webmaster

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