Victor Hugo
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesFreed after nineteen years in the galleys for a stolen loaf, Jean Valjean finds neither work nor shelter, until a bishop takes him in. A different man under a false name, he takes in Cosette, daughter of a working woman dead in destitution, and raises her in hiding. Inspector…By the same authorSame genre
Leo TolstoyWar and PeaceIn 1805 Russia goes to war against Napoleon, and the salons of Petersburg discuss it in French. The novel follows Pierre Bezukhov, an awkward heir seeking meaning, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who joins the army to escape his life, and Natasha Rostov, whose childhood ends between…Same genre
Henryk SienkiewiczQuo VadisUnder Nero, the patrician Vinicius falls in love with Lygia, a royal hostage raised in a Roman household and secretly Christian. Used to getting his way, he has her claimed for the palace; she escapes, and he discovers a community living by rules opposed to his own. When Rome…Same genre
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesCharles Darnay, a French aristocrat, renounces his origins to live a fairer life in England, while Sydney Carton, a disillusioned lawyer, struggles with his own inner emptiness. Their destinies intersect against the backdrop of the French Revolution, where social tensions erupt…Same genreSame era
Nikolai GogolDead SoulsChichikov arrives in a provincial town, charms everyone who matters, and calls on the landowners nearby. He offers them a peculiar bargain: to buy the serfs who have died since the last census but still stand on the registers and are taxed to their owners. From estate to estate…Same genreSame era
Various AuthorsVictorian Courtship StoriesA collection of five English short stories published between 1861 and 1903, by W. S. Gilbert, Anthony Trollope, Hubert Crackanthorpe, George Egerton and Israel Zangwill, all devoted to courtship. In Venice, an Englishman sees his young neighbour only through her reflection in…Same genre
Stephen CraneThe Red Badge of CourageHenry Fleming, an inexperienced young soldier, goes to war with idealized notions of courage and glory. Confronted with the violence of combat, he doubts, flees, and struggles against his own fear. Gradually, he seeks to understand what it truly means to be brave. His inner…Same genre
Alexandre DumasThe Count of Monte CristoIn 1815 Edmond Dantès, a young first mate promised a command and a bride, is denounced on the day of his betrothal. Imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, he meets the abbé Faria, who teaches him and tells of a hidden treasure. Under the name of the Count of Monte…Same countrySame genreSame era
Jane AustenEmmaEmma Woodhouse, young, rich and sure of her judgement, has made a pastime of arranging the marriages around her. Convinced she is working for the happiness of others, she guides a friend of no fortune and reads everyone's intentions in her own way. Her arrangements slowly turn…Same genreSame era
Jane AustenPride and PrejudiceElizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters, belongs to a family of minor English gentry where marriage decides a daughter's future. The arrival of a wealthy neighbour and of his friend Darcy, thought haughty, unsettles the whole neighbourhood. Between gossip and hasty…Same genreSame era
HomerThe Iliad (Volume 1)In the tenth year of the siege of Troy, Agamemnon takes from Achilles the captive awarded to him, and the best of the Achaeans withdraws to his tent. Without him the Greek army fights on the plain: the duel of Paris and Menelaus, the feats of Diomedes, Hector's farewell to…Same genre
Guy de MaupassantBoule de SuifDuring the war of 1870, ten travellers leave Rouen, occupied by the Prussians, in the same stagecoach: local notables, two nuns, a democrat and a prostitute nicknamed Boule de Suif. Held at an inn by a Prussian officer who sets his conditions, they discover what their…Same countrySame genre