The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo

9781961884281 | Paperback Book

December 20, 2024

"No character was ever thrown into such strange relief as Gilliatt. . . here, indeed, the true position of man in the universe." -Robert Louis Stevenson
The Toilers of the Sea tells the fairytale-esque story of Gilliatt, an outcast fisherman who must rescue an engine from a wrecked steamship. If successful, he will win the hand of the shipowner's beautiful daughter, Déruchette. He will brave the harsh rocks, the freezing waves, and even the grasp of a sea monster to prove his worth.
A richly detailed study of early nineteenth-century Guernsey, The Toilers of the Sea is the oft-forgotten novel that completes a trilogy with Hugo's famed The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables . It is a tribute to the drama of nature and the insignificance of man against it, to solitude in exile, and the light we choose to carry in the darkness.