"Angelica - Marquise of Angels" is the first novel in a series of books about the beautiful Angelica.
In this part, readers get to know the smart and beautiful Angelica, whom her father decides to marry the mysterious Comte de Peyrac. Rumor has it that he has the gift of witchcraft and turns metal ore into gold. Despite his lameness, scars on his face, he has incredible charisma and is attractive to women ... What is Angelica's future husband hiding and can the main character fall in love with him? ...

Way to Versailles (1958)

During the reign Louis XIV all roads led to Versailles. However, before Angelica finally gets to the royal court, she will have to survive in a community of bandits and beggars, which is called the Court of Miracles. The author manages to incredibly accurately recreate and describe the life of the Parisian bottom of that time. Angelica makes a promise to herself that she will not break down and at all costs will regain her position in society after all those fateful events that occurred in the first novel. But can this fragile red-haired beauty achieve this, because she has two small children in her arms? ...

Angelica and the King (1959)

Once at the royal court, Angelica finally starts her life anew - restores her reputation, fortune, respect. But in her personal life, everything is not so smooth - her relationship with Phillip is not particularly warm and close. At the same time, the king himself pays attention to Angelica and craves her attention. However, her feelings for him are conflicted. She still cannot forgive him for the death of Geoffrey... But suddenly the king confesses that her first and dearly beloved husband is alive, and the execution was only a staging...

Indomitable Angelica (1960)

After Angelique du Plessis-Belière finds out that her first husband is still alive, she decides to take desperate measures. She violates all orders of the king and leaves Paris to go in search of her lover, who, according to rumors, may be on the island of Langoustier. She is accompanied by the scientist Savary. During the search in the Mediterranean Sea, the main character is captured by pirates, and then put up for auction in the slave market. Here it is bought by the legendary and mysterious Reskator...

Rebellious Angelica (1961)

The action of the novel "Angelica Rebel" takes place in the deep forests of France, where the Huguenot uprising against the cruel king begins.
After returning from the East to Paris, Angelica is immediately arrested. While in prison, she receives a letter from the king, who demands that she become his mistress. But the proud Angelica refuses him and decides to join the rebels...
The rebellion lasts for about 3 years, but someone betrays her, and now she has to hide from the persecution of the royal soldiers...

Angelica and her love (1961)

While on the ship, Angelica can't help thinking about the Rescator. Everything about him reminds her of Geoffrey, but she cannot believe the veracity of these suspicions. Fortunately, after a while, Rescator himself reveals his secret to her - he really is Geoffrey de Peyrac. On the way to prison, he managed to escape and escape execution ...
However, after a fifteen-year separation, the heroes do not immediately find mutual understanding, it seems to everyone that the love of the other has passed ...
At the same time, a riot occurs on the ship, but Geoffrey decides not to punish the guilty, because Angelica begs him to do so ...

Angelica in the New World (1964)

Angelica and her husband manage to reach an agreement and peace with representatives of the colonial authorities from Quebec and the Iroquois tribes, but not everything goes smoothly. They are forced to survive in a harsh winter in a small mine where they suffer from hunger and cold, but suddenly friendly Indians come to their aid.
Soon they become aware that in Canada they have a serious enemy - the Jesuit Sebastian d'Orgeval, who convinces everyone around of the appearance of the demon of Acadia in a female form, and connects him with Angelica. As a result, Angelica is suspected of witchcraft, and Geoffrey - of lack of faith...

The Temptation of Angelica (1966)

"Angelica and the Demon" is the eighth book in a series that tells about the adventures of the beautiful Angelica.
From now on, all future plans and hopes of Angelica and her beloved Geoffrey de Peyrac are connected with Canada. But doing all this is not easy at all. The French colonists, the British, the Spaniards constantly have to enter into unequal fight with a merciless nature, to repel the attacks of the Indians, to deal with and deal with religious prejudices ...

Angelica and the Demon (1972)

Still small French colony in the New World has already begun to flourish. And all this thanks to the efforts and enterprise of Geoffrey de Peyrac. At the same time, a conspiracy is being created in Paris, the purpose of which is to kill Geoffrey. For this, the Duchess Ambroisine de Maudribour is sent to America. This cruel woman with an extraordinarily developed analytical mind, but completely devoid of any moral principles, is ready for anything to carry out her plan. It is because of her that Angelica almost dies ...

Angelica and the Shadow Conspiracy (1976)

Angelique and her husband Geoffrey de Peyrac finally realize that traces of conspiracies directed against them lead to the capital New France— Quebec. However, it is precisely there that it is worth trying to find allies. So they decide to take a ship to get there. During the journey, they have to escape from assassins and secret enemies. They understand that only in Quebec will they be able to secure their colony in America. During a long journey, Angelica again remembers her past in Versailles, Paris. Before her, images of those with whom she was associated ...

Angelica in Quebec (1980)

Quebec and the rest of New France's settlements are under threat...
Angelique and Geoffrey need to do everything to change public opinion and find as many allies as possible. And they manage to achieve this. Geoffrey uses for this a longtime supporter - the head of the Jesuits, Father de Maubeuge, who, using his power, expels Sebastian d'Orgeval from the city. Having put his charm and charisma into action, the Comte de Peyrac receives support from the Governor of Canada, Frontenac, and most of the city's residents. Angelica also manages to prove her innocence to the demon of Acadia...

Road of Hope (1984)

Angelique and Geoffrey finally find time to enjoy their time with each other. They make plans for how to start life anew. Their twins are born. But as soon as they are born, babies are on the verge of death. And Angelica herself may die due to malaria that overtook her. Geoffrey manages to save the people he loves by finding the right doctor in time. All this drama takes place in New England, where the main characters went in the summer. Returning from New York, they decide to stop in Salem. Saved by love, she again understands that - paradise - is happiness on Earth.

Who is the creator of the famous Angelica volumes? Ann Golon. The cover also contains the name of the writer's husband. But, as it turned out later, he was in the making. adventure novels played a supporting role.

Anne and Serge Golon: "Angelica"

Today, not everyone will be able to name the books in this series in order. But once these novels were read in France, and in Germany, and in the USSR. And later a film with Michel Mercier was released. Spouses-co-authors became famous. The woman, which will be discussed in this article, created books (of course, not without the help of her no less famous husband), which can be included in the list the most read adventure works of world literature.

Few knew that the author of the plot of the series popular novels— Anne Golon. "Angelica" first appeared in bookstores in 1956. Published by German publishers. Then only under the name of Anne Golon. Serge was looking for historical material. But on the covers of subsequent volumes, the Golons were already listed. What is known about the life of the writer who created one of the most famous female images XX century?

early years

The author of the story about Angelica - Ann Golon - was actually named Simon Change. She was born in December 1921. Native city writers - Toulon. Ann's father was naval officer. Simone showed the ability to draw quite early, and eventually began to write. When she was eighteen, she created her first work. It was published only in 1944. And then, in the late thirties, Simone worked as a journalist in one of the local newspapers.

War

Even before the war began, Simone and her family moved to Versailles. The Germans occupied France. Simone set off on her bicycle towards the south. There, to the border with Spain, she was attracted by freedom, as it turned out, illusory. The traveler failed to reach the destination. At the border she was detained by the Germans. They could shoot. But Simone fearlessly declared that she was an artist and traveled in search of inspiration. She was released, the German officer even issued a pass.

Adventurous spirit and desire for freedom - that's character traits personality, known to the world under the pseudonym Anne Golon. "Angelica" would never have been published if Simone's adventure had not ended so well.

Journalistic activity

On her return to Versailles, Simone took up her work again. literary work. In addition, she organized her own magazine. Four years after the end of the war, one of the works of the young writer was highly appreciated by critics. Simona received a cash bonus, thanks to which she was able to leave for Africa. Here she was going to create unusual, exciting reports. The journalist went to the Congo, where she met her future husband.

Vsevolod Golubinov

This man was born in Bukhara in 1903. When the revolution happened, a fourteen-year-old teenager was alone in Sevastopol. The father was a consul in Iran (Persia), sent his son in 1917 to study in the Crimea. No one imagined that in a few months Russia would be covered civil war. Miraculously, Vsevolod managed to get out of Sevastopol and get to Marseille, where his parents were waiting for him.

Golubinov, like his wife, loved to travel since childhood. He was engaged in geology, painting, in the forties his book "The Gift of Reza Khan" was published. How he ended up in the Congo is unknown. Most importantly, here he met Simone Change, whom he soon married.

Versailles

The newlyweds were forced to return to their homeland - living in the Congo was becoming increasingly difficult. But even at Versailles it was not easy. Vsevolod could not find a job, and the publishers were not interested in Simone's works. In 1952, the couple had their first child. It was then that work began on the first book about Angelica. Anna and Serge Golon - a pseudonym that was used later. Already after the second novel was written, the publishers recommended adding to female name male.

It is difficult for the reader to imagine co-authors. How do they do it? One writes, the other writes? Perhaps someone does. But our heroes creative process shaped differently. As already mentioned, the plot and plot were created by Anne Golon. All Angelica books are based on historical documents although the characters are fictional. Serious preparation was required to write such works. Golubinov spent a lot of time in the Versailles library, collecting material, then advising his wife.

Literary success

Way to Versailles is the second book by Serge and Anne Golon. Angelica turned out to be quite a successful character. The publishers happily agreed to publish the sequel. But Vsevolod did not immediately agree to add his name to the cover of the second volume. He believed that the authorship belongs exclusively to his wife. But a book with a man's name on the cover inspires more trust among readers. In the end, Simone and the publishers managed to convince Vsevolod.

In 1962, five books were already published under double alias. And soon the film adaptation of "Angelica" came out on the screens. The film became extremely popular. But how did this affect the fate of the works of the spouses? Audiences who had not read the novel, after seeing the film, were in a hurry to purchase it. But movie characters were very different from book characters. Someone liked the literary source more, someone was delighted with the film, but was biased towards the novel. One way or another, the works attracted great readership, and were later translated into other languages.

Ann, meanwhile, continued to work on Angelica. The seventh book dealt with the adventures of the main character in America. The writer began work on a new novel, Angelica and the Demon, when her husband unexpectedly passed away.

Simone Changjou survived Vsevolod Golubinoy for 45 years. She died in June 2017 at the age of 96.

Angelica - the main character of a series of historical love books married couple The action of the novels takes place in the seventeenth century and is saturated not only with curious historical details, but also with the love affairs of the main adventuress, which is Angelica. All books in order are very interesting to read.

The authors

In fact, Anna and Serge Golon are the creative pseudonym of a married couple. Simone Shanzhe and Vsevolod Golubinov met in the 40s in the French Congo, where they worked together. Their romance quickly developed into a deep feeling, and the lovers got married.

Vsevolod Sergeevich emigrated from Russia when it began. He wanted to join with all his heart, but it did not work out. In 1920 he settled in France. His father was the royal consul in Iran.

Vsevolod Golubinov was always engaged in painting, writing notes.

Simone Changeo was born into the family of a French sailor. FROM early years the girl dreamed of becoming an artist or a writer. From the age of eighteen, she began publishing books under the pseudonym Joel Dantern. After her marriage, Simone, together with Vsevolod Golubinov, settled in Versailles.

The history of the creation of novels

After returning from Africa, Golubinov could not find work in France. AT postwar period life was pretty hard. In addition, their first child was born. Together, the couple released a book of memoirs about Africa, but it was not a success.

A little later, Simone came up with the idea of ​​​​writing an adventurous Golubinov spent days and nights in the Versailles Library, Simone came up with characters, plot and storylines. She wanted the main character to be fragile, but at the same time incredibly Strong woman. So the green-eyed blonde Angelica appeared in the head of the writer. Anna and Serge Golon set to work with redoubled zeal. And I must say, not without success. The work was a success and is still popular today.

The novels feature real historical figures (Louis the Fifteenth, Prince of Condé) along with the fictional characters Angelica). All books, in order of writing, date from 1956 to 1985. The series consists of thirteen books. Simone (Anne Golon) wrote the last four by herself, since her husband died of a stroke in 1972.

Conventionally, the series of novels can be divided into two parts: the action of the first six books takes place in Europe ( old light) and partly in Barbary, and the rest - in the New World (forts of America and Canada).

"Angelica in the Old World"

Angelica is the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, Baron de Sanse de Montelu. At the age of seventeen, the girl, albeit not of her own free will, marries the Comte de Peyrac, a rich Toulouse nobleman, whom the king himself envies.

The count falls in love with Angelica at first sight, but the girl is afraid of her rickety and disfigured husband. But then the love in her heart conquers fear, and it turns out that Geoffrey de Peyrac is the passion of her whole life.

Everything changes when the happy couple arrives in Paris. Joffrey is accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. All his fortune goes to the royal treasury, and Angelica, in order to save her life, has to wander on the street for a long time. The noble lady knew poverty, cold and hunger, she visited the very bottom of Paris. But, being a strong nature, he does not despair and finds a way out. Having married the royal favorite, Philippe du Plessis-Belières, she again conquers Versailles.

Angelica's life is full of joys and sorrows, ups and downs. From luxury court lady she instantly turns into the sultan's concubine, loses her husband again and thinks that her younger son died in the ocean. But life brings her surprise after surprise.

The old world has become a symbol of pain and sorrow for the woman, and she entrusts her life and the lives of her friends to the formidable pirate Reskator, who is ready to take them to new lands. The reader does not even guess what twist of fate awaits main character soon. And what choice will Angelica have to make.

All books in order about the Old World:

1. "Angelica. Marquise of Angels" (1956).
2. "Angelica. Way to Versailles" (1958).
3. "Angelica and the King" (1959).
4. "Indomitable Angelica" (1960).
5. "Angelica in rebellion" (1961).
6. "Angelica in Love" (1961).

The conditional second part includes seven books that tell about the reunion of the Peyrac family and about their life in undeveloped lands. New World returned to Angelica the love of her life, all her children were alive and well. She loves and is loved. But not everything will turn out in a new life the way she wants.

"Angelica in the New World"

The new world is fraught with many dangers. Even here on virgin clean land, the heroes will have to face envy and malice, hatred and deceit. It may seem that Geoffrey and Angelica will no longer be able to resist evil fate, but their love and devotion to each other will help overcome all adversity. Geoffrey is a strong, courageous and strong-willed man who has cheated death several times, and she is fearless, indomitable, his Angelica.

All books in order:

1. "Angelica in the New World" (1964).
2. "The Temptation of Angelica" (1966).
3. "Angelica and the Demon" (1972).
4. "Angelica and the Shadow Conspiracy" (1976).
5. "Angelica in Quebec" (1980).
6. "Road of Hope" (1984).
7. "Angelica's Victory" (1985).

Screen adaptations

A series of novels about Angelica attracted a lot of attention, and already in 1964 the first novel was filmed. main role the magnificent French actress Michelle Mercier performed there.

Also, four more films were made in four years. And there was no heroine in France in the 60s that Angelica could compare with. Anna and Serge Golon were completely satisfied with the adaptations of their novel.

In 2013, director Ariel Zeytun filmed his version of the story about Angelica.

Anne Golon, Serge Golon

Angelica

PART ONE. MARQUIS OF ANGELS

Nanny, - asked Angelica, - why did Gilles de Retz kill so many children?

It's all the work of the devil, my girl. Gilles de Retz, the cannibal of Mashkul, wanted to become the most powerful lord of all. His castle was full of all kinds of flasks, flasks and pots of red brew, and fetid fumes swirled above them. The devil demanded the hearts of little children as a sacrifice. That's why Gilles de Retz killed. Shocked mothers looked with horror at the black tower of Mashkul, around which crows always circled in flocks - there were so many corpses of innocent babies in the dungeons of the castle.

And he ate them all? asked Madelon, Angelica's little sister, in a trembling voice.

No, I simply couldn’t do it all, - answered the nurse. Leaning over the cauldron, she silently stirred the lard-filled cabbage soup for a while.

Hortense, Angelique and Madelon, daughters of the Baron de Sanse de Montelu, sitting at the table, on which there were already bowls and spoons, waited with bated breath to continue.

He did even worse,” the nurse spoke again, and anger sounded in her voice. - At first he demanded that the baby - a girl or a boy - be brought to him. The frightened baby screamed, called for his mother, and the seigneur, lounging on the bed, enjoyed his horror. Then he ordered the child to be hung against the wall on a special device like a gallows, which squeezed the poor thing's chest and neck, choking him, but not to death. The little one fought like a strangled chicken, then began to wheeze, the unfortunate man's eyes popped out of his sockets, he turned blue all over. And in the huge hall only the laughter of cruel tormentors and the groans of their little victim were heard. Finally, Gilles de Retz signaled to remove the child, put him on his knees, pressed the forehead of the poor little angel to his chest and gently soothed.

“Nothing, no big deal,” he said. “We just wanted to have some fun, but it's all over now. Now you will have sweets, a wonderful downy bed, a silk suit, like a little page ... ”The kid calmed down. His tear-filled eyes began to glow with joy. And here the lord unexpectedly thrust his dagger into his neck ... And when he kidnapped very young girls, he did such abominations ...

And what did he do with them? asked Hortense.

But here old Guillaume intervened, who was sitting by the hearth, rubbing tobacco leaves rolled into a tube on a grater.

Shut up, you crazy old woman! he grumbled into his yellowed beard. - I am a soldier, and then everything inside me turns over from your tales ...

The fat Fantine Lozier turned to him with alacrity.

Tell stories! Guillaume Lutzen, you can see at once that you are a stranger, a complete stranger in our area. But it is worth going towards Nantes, and you will immediately stumble upon the damned Mashkul castle. Already two hundred years have passed since the time when these atrocities were committed, and people, passing by, still make the sign of the cross. But you are not from here, how do you know about our ancestors.

Your ancestors are good, if they are all like Gilles de Retz!

Gilles de Retz was greatest villain, and who else, besides us, the inhabitants of Poitou, can boast that and. they had such a terrible murderer. And when he was tried and sentenced in Nantes, he repented before his death and asked for forgiveness from God, and all the mothers whose children he tortured and ate, they all put on mourning for him.

Well well! exclaimed old Guillaume.

That's what we are here in Poitou, people! Great in evil and great in forgiveness!

The nurse, with a stern look, put the bowls on the table and kissed little Dany passionately.

Of course, I did not go to school for long, ”she continued,“ but still I can distinguish fairy tales that are entertained at gatherings from what really happened in the old days. Gilles de Retz really lived. And even if his body rotted in our land, but who knows, maybe his soul is still wandering somewhere not far from Mashkul.

And it’s better not to touch her, these are not brownies and not fairies that walk among the large stones in the fields. And it’s also better not to make fun of brownies ...

Can you laugh at ghosts, nanny? Angelica asked.

You don't have to either, baby. Ghosts are not evil, but they are almost all unhappy and touchy, why make them suffer even more with ridicule?

And why is the old lady who appears in our castle crying?

Do you know? AT last time I met her six years ago, right between the former guardhouse and the large gallery, and it seemed to me that she did not cry then. Maybe because Sir Baron, your grandfather, ordered a prayer service in the chapel for the repose of her soul.

And I heard her walking up the stairs of the tower, said the maid Babette.

It must have been a rat. The old lady from Montelo is very modest, she tries not to disturb anyone. They also think she was blind. After all, she walks with her hand outstretched. Or she is looking for something. Sometimes she comes up to sleeping children and runs her hand over their faces.

Fantine speaks more and more quietly, and finally concludes in an ominous whisper:

Or maybe she's looking for her dead baby...

Listening to you, auntie, is worse than visiting a slaughterhouse, protested old Guillaume. “Maybe your lord de Retz really was a great man and you, his countrymen, be proud of him, although two hundred years separate you, let the lady from Montelo be a very worthy lady, but I personally think that it’s not good to frighten our babies like that, because they even stopped stuffing their tummies from fear.

Ah, it’s enough for you to pretend to be a lamb, you are such a martinet, a damn warrior! How many bellies in the same crumbs did you pierce with your pike in the fields of Alsace and Picardy when you served Austrian emperor? How many huts have been set on fire, doors locked, and entire families roasted alive? Haven't you ever hung villains? They hung so much that the branches on the trees broke off! And how many women and girls were raped, and they, without bearing the shame, laid hands on themselves? ..

Like everyone else, like everyone else, auntie. Such is the fate of a soldier. Such is the war. But in the life of these girls there should be nothing but games and funny stories.

Until such time as soldiers and robbers attack the country like locusts. And then the life of little girls will become oh so similar to a soldier's: the same war, misfortune, fear ...

Pursing her lips bitterly, the nurse lifted the lid of a large earthenware pot of hare pâté, spread the sandwiches, and distributed them to everyone in a circle, not even leaving old Guillaume behind.

Listen to me, children, listen to what Fantine Lozier is telling you...

While the skirmish between the wet-nurse and Guillaume was going on, Hortense, Angelique, and Madelon had emptied their bowls and were now pricking up their ears again, while their ten-year-old brother Gontran came out of the dark corner where he was sitting pouting and went up to the table. The hour of wars and robberies has come, desperate fighters and robbers who rush in the glow of conflagrations to the screams of women and the sound of swords ...

Guillaume Lutzen, you know my son, don't you? He is the groom of our master, the Baron de Sanse de Montelu.

Yes, I know, a very handsome guy.

Well, I can only tell you one thing about his father: he served in the army of Monseigneur Cardinal Richelieu when he went to La Rochelle to destroy the Protestants. I myself was not a Huguenot and always prayed to the Virgin to help me remain a girl until marriage. But after that. as the troops of our most Christian King Louis XIII passed through Poitou, I, how to put it mildly, lost my innocence. And in memory of those devils whose armor, studded with nails, tore the only shirt I had then, my son is named Jean Latnik. After all, one of these devils is his father. And about all sorts of robbers and robbers, whom hunger now and then drove out onto the main road, I could tell so much - the night will not be enough. What were they doing to me on the straw in the barn, while their buddies were shooting at my husband's heels on the hearth, trying to find out where he had hidden the money! And I could smell it, but I thought they were roasting a pig.

Fat Fantine laughed and poured herself a glass of cider to soothe her throat, dry from this long tirade.

So, the childhood of Angelica de Sanse de Montelu flowed in stories about cannibals, ghosts and robbers.

In the veins of Fantine Lozier, blood flowed, in which there was also a share of Moorish blood - around the 11th century, the Moors almost reached Poitou, and passion and rich imagination were transmitted to Angelique along with the milk of the nurse, long since human this land, the land of swamps and forests, open like a bay to the warm ocean winds.

She got used to this world, where magic and tragedy were intertwined. She liked him, and she learned not to be afraid of him. She looked with pity at the frightened little Madelon and at her prim older sister Hortens, who was clearly burning with the desire to ask the nurse what the robbers were doing to her on the straw in the barn.

And eight-year-old Angelica immediately guessed what happened there. After all, how many times did she take cows and goats to mating! And her friend, the shepherd Nikola, explained to her that men and women do the same so that they have children. And so the nurse got her Jean Latnik. Angelica was embarrassed by only one thing: why the nurse spoke about this either in a languid and agitated voice, or with sincere hatred.

However, why ask why the nurse suddenly becomes silent thoughtfully, why she becomes furious. You just have to be glad that she is, that she is always in trouble, fat, tall, with strong arms that you can comfortably nestle on her knees, widely spaced under a flamboyant dress, and she will kiss you like a baby bird, sing a lullaby or tell you about Gilles de Retz.

***

Old Guillaume Lutzen was simpler. He spoke slowly, with a heavy accent. According to rumors, he was either Swiss or German. It has been nearly fifteen years since he, limping, barefoot, came here along the old Roman road that leads from Angers to Saint-Jean-d'Angely. He entered the castle of Montelu and asked for a mug of milk. a master of all trades - he could fix and make anything, on behalf of the Baron de Sanse, he delivered letters to his friends living in the neighborhood, and received a tax collector instead of him when he came to the castle for money. Old Guillaume listened patiently, because - he answered him in his own dialect - either Tyrolean, or Swiss - and the collector, discouraged, left.

Where did he fight, in the north or in the east? And how could it be that this foreign mercenary came from Brittany, as the people who met him on the road claimed? All that was known about him was that he served in the troops of the condottiere Wallenstein in Lutzen and that there he had the honor of ripping open the belly of the fat glorious King of Sweden Gustavus Adolf, who during the battle got lost in the fog and stumbled upon Austrian spearmen.

When the rays of the sun broke through the cobwebs into the attic where Guillaume lived, one could see how his old armor and helmet sparkled, from which he still drank mulled wine, and sometimes even sipped soup. When nuts ripened in the forest, they were knocked down by him with a huge - three times higher than Guillaume himself - pike.

Most of all, Angelica envied him a small tortoiseshell inlaid snuff box with a grater, which he, like all German mercenaries who served in French army, called "kokotka". By the way, "cocottes"

called in the army and the mercenaries themselves.

All evening the doors of the castle's spacious kitchen were continually opened and closed. Servants and maids came in from the yard out of the night, bringing with them a strong smell of manure, among them was the groom Jean Latnik, as swarthy as his mother.

Between the legs of those entering, dogs slipped into the kitchen: two greyhounds - Mars and Marjolin - and dachshunds splashed up to their ears with mud.

Doors leading to inner chambers, missed the clever Nanette - she entered the de Sansa Maid in the hope of learning good manners and then go from their impoverished masters to sir the Marquis du Plessis de Bellières. The Marquis lived a few leagues from Montelu. To and fro ran two servant girls with uncombed hair falling over their eyes. They carried firewood into the living room and carried water from room to room. Madame Baroness herself appeared in the kitchen. She had a kind, weather-beaten face from the country air, prematurely withered from numerous births. She was dressed in a gray twill dress, and a black wool scarf covered her head, since in the living room, where she whiled away the time with the baron-grandfather and the old aunts, it was damper than in the kitchen.

She asked if the linden decoction would soon be ready for Messire the Baron, then she asked if the baby had sucked well on the chest, if he was being capricious. In passing, she stroked the cheek of Angelique, who was dozing, whose long hair, the color of darkened gold, scattered over the table and glistened in the reflections of the fire of the hearth.

Time for bed, girls. Pulcheri will escort you now.

Always obedient Pulcheri, one of the old aunts, put the girls to bed every evening. She was a dowry and never managed to find a husband or even a monastery where they would agree to take her, but instead of crying or sitting all day long over embroidery, she, wanting to be useful, willingly played the role of a mentor with her nieces, for that in the castle she was a little despised and showed much less attention than the other aunt, the fat Jeanne.

Pulcheri took care of her older nephews. The younger children were put to bed by the nurse, and Gontran, who had no tutor, went to sleep on his straw mattress under the roof, when he pleased.

Following the thin old maid, Hortense, Angelique and Madelon entered the drawing room, where the flame of the hearth and three candles could not completely dispel the thick darkness that had accumulated for centuries under the high ancient vaults. Tapestries hung on the walls, saving them from dampness, but they were already so old and moth-eaten that it was impossible to make out what scenes were depicted on them, and only someone's deathly-pale faces looked out from there with silent reproach.

The girls approached their grandfather and curtsied. The old baron sat by the fire in his wide black cloak trimmed with frayed fur. But his snow-white hands, lying on the head of the stick, were truly royal. The baron's head was covered by a wide-brimmed black felt hat, and his square beard, like that of King Henry IV, rested on a stand-up frilled collar, which Hortense secretly considered out of fashion.

The girls made a second curtsy to Aunt Jeanne - she sat with a displeased look and did not even honor them with a smile, then they went up the long stone stairs, where it was damp, like in a crypt. The bedrooms were piercingly cold in winter, but cool in summer. However, they only slept there. A large bed - one for all three girls - rose like a sarcophagus in the corner of the empty room; the rest of the furniture was sold out last generations Barons de Sanse. The stone slabs of the floor, which were covered with straw in winter, cracked in many places. They climbed onto the bed using a bench with three steps. Dressed in nightcoats and caps on their heads, the sisters de Sanse de Montelu knelt down and, thanking the Lord God for all his blessings, climbed onto the soft feather bed and dived under the torn blankets. Angelica immediately looked for a hole in the sheet, put her pink leg through it and the hole in the blanket, and began to move her fingers, making Madelon laugh.

After the nurse's stories, Madelon trembled with fear like an aspen leaf. Hortens was also afraid, but, as the eldest, she did not show it. For Angelica alone, all these horrors aroused some kind of joyful excitement. Life for her consisted of secrets and discoveries. Mice scratched behind the wooden paneling of the walls, owls and the bats. They could hear the greyhounds whining in the yard, and the mules that were grazing in the meadow came to scratch their backs on the walls of the castle.

Sometimes in winter snowy nights the howling of wolves was heard coming out of the dense forest of Montelo to the dwelling, and with the onset of spring in the evenings, the singing of peasants who danced rigaudon in the light of the moon could be heard from the village to the castle.

***

One of the walls of the Montelu castle overlooked the swamp. Here was the oldest part of the fortress wall, built back in the distant XIV century by the lord of Ridue de Sanse, an associate of Bertrand du Guesclin. At its ends were two large towers, girdled at the top with shingled walkways for sentinels. Taking Gontran or Denis with her, Angelique climbed up there, and they amused themselves by spitting into the machicules, through which, in the old days, soldiers poured boiling oil from buckets on the enemy. The wall rose on the very edge of a small but high limestone cape, swamps stretched behind it. Long ago, back in primitive times, on the site of the swamps the sea receded, it left a close interweaving of rivers, streams, ponds, which later became overgrown with grass and willows and turned into the kingdom of frogs and snakes, and the peasants moved here only in boats. Villages and individual huts stood on the islands of the former bay that towered above the swamps. The Duc de la Tremouille, who claimed to be a lover of the exotic, and who stayed one summer with the Marquis du Plessis, sailed a lot on this watery edge and called it "Green Venice".

This huge water-meadow, this fresh-water swamp stretches from Niort and Fontenay-le-Comte to the very ocean. A little before reaching Maran, Chaye and even Luzon, it merged with bitter swamps, that is, with salt marshes. Next came the coast, along which stretched white hills of precious salt - the subject of a fierce struggle between customs officers and smugglers.

And if the nurse almost never told any stories about them - and there were many of them in these parts - it was only because her native village stood aside, on solid ground, and Fantine Lozier deeply despised people who live "with their feet in the water ”, and in addition all the Huguenots.

The facade of Montelu Castle itself, built later, looked away from the marshes with all its numerous windows. Only an old drawbridge with rusty chains, on which chickens and turkeys liked to sit, separated main entrance to the castle from the meadow where the mules grazed. To the right of the entrance was the baron's dovecote with a roof of round tiles and a farm. The rest of the services were located on the other side of the moat. In the distance, the bell tower of the village of Montelu could be seen.

Behind the village, oak and chestnut groves stretched like a dense curly carpet, without a single lawn, to the very north of the edge of Gatin and the Vendée Bocage. If such a walk seemed to you at least a little attractive, and neither wolves nor bandits frightened you, you could walk almost to the Loire and to the province of Anjou.

The forest of Niel, closest to the castle, belonged to the Marquis du Plessis. The peasants of Montelu grazed their pigs there, which caused endless lawsuits with the Marquis's housekeeper, a certain Molin, a very greedy man. In this forest lived several artisans who made clogs, coal miners and the old sorceress Melusina. In winter, the sorceress sometimes came out of the forest, exchanged a bowl of milk for medicinal herbs from one of the peasants, and immediately, standing on the threshold of the house, drank it.

Following the example of Melusina, Angelica also collected different roots and flowers, dried them, then boiled some, ground others into powder, scattered them in bags, and then hid them all in a hiding place, the existence of which no one knew except old Guillaume. Sometimes Pulcheri could not reach her for hours.

Angelica upset Pulcheri very much, she even cried sometimes, thinking about the girl. According to Pulcheri, Angelica personified the collapse of what was called traditional education, and, moreover, Angelica was, as it were, living evidence of the decline of their noble family due to poverty and poverty.

/ Anne & Serge Golon

Anne and Serge Golon (fr. Anne et Serge Golon) or Sergeanne Golon (Sergeanne Golon) - the literary pseudonym of the married couple Simone Changeux (Simone Changeux, born December 17, 1921, Toulon) and Vsevolod Sergeevich Golubinov (August 23, 1903, Bukhara - July 1972, Quebec), authors of the series historical novels about Angelica - a fictional beauty-adventurer of the 17th century.
As Simone and her daughter Nadine now assert, the real author was Simone Changéot alone, her husband was more of an assistant in the search for historical material in the Versailles library. In 1953, the manuscript for the first volume of Angelica was sent to four publishing houses in France, Germany, England and Italy on behalf of Anne Golon. The Germans were the first to publish "Angelica" in 1956, indicating Anne Golon as the author. In 1957, on the birthday of their third child, the first volume was published in France, the authors were Anne and Serge Golon; introduction male name assumed greater seriousness in the publication of the novel (the perception in society of a woman was different from today; French women received the right to participate in elections only in 1944). The English publishing house published the first book in the same 1957 under the pseudonym Sergeanne Golon (fr. Sergeanne Golon), without asking the opinion of the authors. In 1958 the book was published in the USA under the name of Sergeant Golon.
Vsevolod Golubinov died of a stroke in July 1972, when Simone Changeo was just beginning her search for historical material for the tenth volume of the Angelica series.
Simone Changéot died on July 14, 2017 in Versailles, at the age of 96.

Have you ever wondered who is behind the names on the covers of numerous volumes of "Angelica"?
These are the names of people whose lives are certainly worthy of being described in a novel.
Let's start with the person whose hand wrote the text of the novels, the creator of the plot and literary images.
December 17, 1921 in Toulon, in the family of the captain French Navy Pierre Changeux had a daughter, who was named Simone. The girl showed early talent for painting and drawing. When her father took up aviation and wrote a book about airplanes, ten-year-old Simone painted over 500 copies for him. When she was 18, she wrote her first book, Au pays de derriere mes yeux (The Country Behind My Eyes) (published in 1944 under the pseudonym Joelle Dantern. She was subsequently called Joelle in the family). Then she began to work as a journalist.
In 1939 the second World War, and in the summer of 1940 France was occupied German troops. At that time, the family was already living in Versailles. Simone decided to break out of the occupied zone and head south to the Spanish border. In Spain, at that time, the Francoist regime was operating, but in those terrible days when almost all continental Europe covered the shadow of occupation, ghostly freedom the then unoccupied south and non-belligerent Spain were really a breath of fresh air for the young girl. In the summer of 1941, she set off on her bicycle, assuring her father that she would be very careful. Her path lay through the former province of Poitou, where in the future she will settle her heroine. The spirit of antiquity and conservatism still reigned in these places. The impression that Simone received during the trip remained with her for the rest of her life, and the evil she witnessed in the occupied country only strengthened her character and desire for independence and justice.
On the border of the occupied zone, Simona was arrested by the Germans. She could be threatened with execution, or, according to at least, camp. But the girl boldly declared German officer that she is an artist, travels to see the beauty of her country, and pointed to her drawings. The officer, dumbfounded by such behavior, not only let her go, but also provided her with a pass, adding: "This is a Frenchwoman, so French!" Simone reached Spain, set foot on land free from German occupiers, and set off on her return journey.
After returning home, Simone continued to engage in literary work. She organized the magazine "France 47", wrote several scripts. In 1949, the young writer received an award for new book- "La patrouille des Saints Innocents" ("Innocent Saint's Patrol"). With the money she received, she decided to go to Africa, from where she was going to send reports. Simone went to the Congo, where she met her fate. The man who was destined to play such huge role in her life, her name was Vsevolod Sergeevich Golubinov. He was born on August 23, 1903 in Bukhara, in the family of a Russian diplomat. His father was the Russian consul in Persia (Iran). Vsevolod's childhood passed in wealth and prosperity, but in 1917 his fate changed dramatically. That summer, when Russia was shaking with a revolutionary storm, the parents sent a fourteen-year-old boy to study at a gymnasium in Sevastopol. Now, after the nineties, which turned our world upside down again, this may no longer seem strange. In 1917, gymnasiums and universities were operating, scientific works, and many young men and women began their studies in this year. Let us also recall that the people of that era were brought up for decades with regard to peaceful life. Even the revolution of 1905 could not change the attitude towards the world as something stable. Only the world war shocked the ideas of Europeans and Russians. But in 1917, it was still far from its end. So, the teenager found himself alone in a country engulfed in revolution and war. But he managed to break out of the chaos and get to Marseille. In France, he reunited with his family. In the city of Nancy, Vsevolod Golubinov was educated: he became a chemist and geologist, and added new ones to the languages ​​learned in childhood. Later, in addition to geology, he also studied painting. In his youth, he traveled a lot, was engaged in geological surveys in China, Indochina, Tibet, and in the forties ended up in the Congo. In the same years, a book about his youth "Le Cadeau de Riza Khan" ("The Gift of Reza Khan") was published, in which one of the young French writers. Then the pseudonym "Serge Golon" first appeared. Subsequently, Simone wrote another biography of Vsevolod. These people could not help but be interested in each other. The romance that began between them resulted in a deep feeling and soon they got married. Life in the Congo, however, became more difficult. The independence movement drove Europeans out of Africa. The business that Vsevolod was engaged in ceased to generate income; the couple returned to France and settled in Versailles. Vsevolod Golubinov, an experienced geologist, could not find work in France. They attempted to collaborate on literary work, and published a book on wild animals ("Le Coeur des Betes Sauvages"). However, the situation was difficult, in addition, Simone by that time had given birth to her first child. And then she decided to write a historical adventure novel. The writer approached the matter with exceptional conscientiousness.
Simone and Vsevolod worked for three years in the library of Versailles, studying historical materials on the history of the seventeenth century. The work was distributed as follows: Simone studied the material, wrote, built a plot, drew up a plan, and Vsevolod took care of historical material and advised her. The first book turned out to be voluminous - 900 pages. Vsevolod found a publisher who was interested in such a work. But the French publishing house, where they gave the manuscript, nevertheless delayed its release, and then the couple decided to publish it in Germany. The book was published in 1956, and in next year She also came out in France. Due to its large volume, it was published in two volumes. The first was called "Angelica, Marquise of the Angels", and the second - "The Way to Versailles". French publishers offered to put two names on the cover. Simona was not opposed, but Vsevolod did not immediately give his consent. He reasonably claimed that Simone wrote the book. However, the publishers insisted on their own, and the pseudonym "Anne and Serge Golon" got the right to exist. In Germany, only the name of Anne Golon was on the covers of books. Interestingly, the English and American editions were published under the pseudonym "Sergeanne Golon" (Sergeanne Golon). This happened without the consent of the authors, and English-speaking readers long years remained in the dark about the true authorship of the book they loved.
So, the book came out and received unprecedented popularity. The first volumes were followed by four more, and the development of the plot went according to a predetermined plan. And life went on. In 1962, when there were six books (the sixth was "Angelica and Her Love"), Anne and Serge Golon (we will call them that from now on) already had four children.
Publishers and literary agents, seeing the popularity of the book, came up with the idea of ​​a film adaptation. The first film was released in 1964 and immediately became famous. But, to the greatest regret, the reputation of the book turned out to be greatly undermined as a result. Literary images and the film images were unlike each other, but some viewers formed a preconceived opinion about the novel in advance. Nevertheless, many, many, having watched the film, became interested in the book as well.
Meanwhile, Anne and Serge continued to work. The sixth book ended with Angelica's arrival in America. The action, according to Ann's plans, was to take place in Maine, where the settlements of the French, English and Dutch colonists were located, and in Canada. And so the family went to the USA and Canada to collect material for new books there. They lived there for several years and collected a lot of interesting information. Serge Golon worked hard as an artist, also dealing with the chemistry of paints.
Ann successfully worked on the continuation of the cycle. The novels "Angelica in the New World", "The Temptation of Angelica" were published. In 1972, Anne completed the novel "Angelica and the Demon", Serge was preparing another exhibition of his works, which was to be held in Quebec, where the family went. However, a few days after his arrival, Serge died unexpectedly, before he reached his seventieth birthday. Ann was left with the children and the unfinished book. But she managed to overcome her grief and continued to work. Over the following years, four more volumes were published. The last, thirteenth, "Angelica's Victory", was published in France in 1985. Angelica's story was still far from complete, but Ann was forced to stop for a while and do less pleasant things - a conflict with a former literary agent and a fight for her copyright with the Hachette publishing house. Trial lasted for many years, in 1995 Ann won the case, but only formally. The publishers filed an appeal, and the issue dragged on for many years. In December 2004, Anne Golon received all copyrights from the publisher for book series. The writer continues to work on her novel, which has become her life's work. Now she lives in Versailles and for several years now she has been writing the final novel of the entire cycle, the working title of which is Angelique and the French Kingdom. But that's not all! Ann also conceived and is carrying out a grandiose work on the revision and revision of the entire cycle. The fact is that the publishers made banknotes in many places. This applies, oddly enough, to French publications as well. Thus, Ann inserts missing fragments into books, makes additions, corrects errors that were probably inevitable with such a volume and at the speed with which the first volumes were published. In 2003, she completed the revision of the first part of the first book (about Angelica's childhood). She once wrote her book by hand. Now that the writer is 82 years old, she uses a computer, and is very happy that it helps her speed up her work.
Agency "Archange International", created by the daughter of Anne and Serge Golon Nadia, took over the organizational issues related to copyright and publication of future books.
The support of numerous readers from all over the world, which Ann found in last years thanks to the Internet, gives her new strength to bring to the end the work of her life - the story of Angelica.