The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – NORMANDY
Badfellas by Tonino Benacquista – NORMANDY
A novel of a friendship group set in MASSACHUSETTS
Ten Great Books set in NORTHERN FRANCE
3rd September 2026
Ten great books set in Northern France.
Northern France is a captivating destination blending rich history, vibrant culture, and stunning coastlines.
Key places to see include Lille, a lively hub boasting Flemish-influenced architecture, and the Opal Coast with dramatic chalk cliffs, sandy beaches, and charming seaside towns. There are also poignant WW1 memorials and the iconic D-Day landing beaches of Normandy.
Plus of course there is a world renowned culinary scene featuring mouth-watering seafood and a range of artisanal cheeses.
A wonderful area to spend a few days.
Black Water Lillies by Michel Bussi – GIVERNY
Giverny. During the day, the home of the famous artist Claude Monet and the gardens where he painted his waterlilies. But once the tourists have gone, there is a darker side to the peaceful French village.
This is the story of thirteen days that begin with one murder and end with another. Jérôme Morval, a man whose passion for art was matched only by his passion for women, has been found dead in the stream that runs through the gardens. In his pocket is a postcard of Monet’s Waterlilies with the words: Eleven years old. Happy Birthday.
Entangled in the mystery are three women: a young painting prodigy, the seductive village schoolteacher and an old widow who watches over the village from a mill by the stream. All three of them share a secret. But what do they know about the discovery of Jérôme Morval’s corpse? And what is the connection to the mysterious, rumoured painting of Black Waterlilies?
The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – NORMANDY
A mysterious toymaker who lives as a recluse in an old mansion, surrounded by the mechanical beings he has created… an enigma surrounding strange lights that shine through the mists that envelop the small island on which the old lighthouse stands… a shadowy creature that hides deep in the woods… these are the elements of a mystery that bind 14-year-old Irene to Ismael during one magical summer spent in the Blue Bay. Irene’s mother has taken a job as a housekeeper for the toymaker, Lazarus, but his house contains more secrets than Irene and Ishmael have bargained for.
Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander – NORMANDY
After escaping death at the hands of a ruthless murderer while honeymooning in Constantinople (Tears of Pearl), Lady Emily is recuperating from her wounds at her mother-in-law’s estate in Normandy when, while out horseback riding in the countryside, she comes across the body of a young woman who has been horribly murdered. Her wounds are identical to those inflicted on the victims of Jack the Ripper, who is wreaking havoc across the channel in London. Lady Emily and Colin learn that the victim is the daughter of a high born family of French aristocrats who had been committed to an asylum for the insane. While there, she had given birth to an illegitimate child who was spirited away and may be dead. As Lady Emily pursues a trail of clues (and bodies) to the beautiful medieval city of Rouen and a crumbling chateau in the country, she begins to worry about her own sanity: she hears the cries of a little girl she cannot find and discovers blue ribbons left in the child’s wake. Emily is on the verge of solving the mystery, when she is suddenly taken captive by the killer and held in an isolated tower where she once again hears the eerie cries of the lost child. She has to muster all her courage in a terrifying game of wits against a cold and brilliant murderer or she will be his next victim.
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting – THE SOMME
By Norway’s bestselling novelist and the author of NORWEGIAN WOOD, a family story of epic scale.
Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. The death of his parents, when he was three years old, has always been shrouded in mystery – he has never been told how or where it took place and has only a distant memory of his mother.
But he knows that the fate of his grandfather’s brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death – a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all.
Edvard’s desperate quest to unlock the family’s tragic secrets takes him on a long journey – from – to the Shetlands, and to the battlefields of France – to the discovery of a very unusual inheritance. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is about the love of wood and finding your own self, a beautifully intricate and moving tale that spans an entire century.
All I Have to Give by Mary Wood – THE SOMME
When all is lost, can she find the strength to start again?
It is 1916 and Edith Mellor is one of the few female surgeons in Britain. Compelled to use her skills for the war effort, she travels to the Somme, where she is confronted with the horrors at the front. Yet amongst the bloodshed on the battlefield, there is a ray of light in the form of the working class Albert, a corporal from the East End of London. Despite being worlds apart, Edith and Albert can’t deny their attraction to each other. But as the brutality of war reveals itself to Albert, he makes a drastic decision that will change both Edith and Albert’s lives forever.
In the north of England, strong-minded Ada is left heartbroken when her only remaining son Jimmy heads off to fight in the war. Desperate to rebuild her shattered life, Ada takes up a position in the munition factory. But life deals her a further blow when she discovers that her mentally unstable sister Beryl is pregnant with her husband Paddy’s child. Soon, even the love of the gentle Joe, a supervisor at the factory, can’t erase Ada’s pain. An encounter with Edith’s cousin, Lady Eloise, brings Edith into her life. Together, they realize, they may be able to turn their lives around . . .
All I Have to Give is a thrilling saga from Mary Wood, the kindle bestselling author of Time Passes Time and Proud of You.
Germinal by Emile Zola – VAL d’OISE
Étienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Compelled to take a back-breakin job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all. The thirteenth novel in Zola’s great Rougon-Macquart sequence, Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity’s capacity for compassion and hope.
Roger Pearson’s lively and modern new translation is accompanied by an introduction that examines the social and political background to Zola’s masterpiece, in particular the changing relationship between labour and capital. This edition also contains a further reading list and filmography, chronology, notes and glossary.
Badfellas by Tonino Benacquista – NORMANDY
Released as a film called ‘The Family’ with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones. The story is violent, pacy and full of black humour. Imagine the Soprano family arriving in France, or perhaps better, Ray Liotta, the snitch from ‘Goodfellas’ settling down with his family in a small town in Normandy.
Under cover of darkness, an American family moves into a villa in Cholong-sur-Avre in Normandy. Fred Blake tells everyone he is writing a history of the landings. In fact Blake is Giovanni Manzoni, an ex-Mafia boss who grassed and is now in the FBI Witness Protection Program. Having blown his cover a number of times in the US, the FBI finally sends him to France. Things happen to this thuggish family: a plumber who angers Fred with delays and exorbitant estimates ‘falls down the stairs’ and breaks both arms, the manager of the local supermarket insults Maggie behind her back so that afternoon his supermarket burns down, Warren, the son, starts a gang in his lycée, to intimidate and extort other pupils. A coincidence beyond belief blows Fred’s cover yet again and, with the arrival of the shooters from Newark, he is able to dive back into the violent life of crime he misses so much.
Isabelle by André Gide – NORMANDY
The story begins in the ruins of an old chateau in Normandy. The narrator of the story, Gérard Lacase, is showing some friends around the property where he was a guest many years earlier as a young university student from Paris. The friends see that he is emotional about the place, and they convince him to tell his story. As mentioned, he becomes infatuated with a woman he sees in a picture. He has an obsessive curiosity to find about more about her and about her family with whom he stayed at the chateau. At the beginning of chapter 1 he says, “I was still not aware of how strongly events can conceal from us what at first looks interesting and how compelling they are to someone who does not know how to resist them.” These are words to keep in mind when reading through the story. The book is rather short, so it does not take a large investment of time, and I am sure that modern readers will find the book to be a good read. Sometimes French novels and films can be rather brutal emotionally, but this tale has a nice ending that leaves the reader with a good feeling despite the emotional ups and downs of some of the characters.
Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq – NORMANDY
Dissatisfied and discontent, Florent-Claude Labrouste feels he is dying of sadness. His young girlfriend hates him and his career as an engineer at the Ministry of Agriculture is pretty much over. His only relief comes in the form of a pill – white, oval, small. Recently released for public consumption, Captorix is a new brand of anti-depressant which works by altering the brain’s release of serotonin.
Armed with this new drug, Labrouste decides to abandon his life in Paris and return to the Normandy countryside where he used to work promoting regional cheeses, and where he had once been in love. But instead of happiness, he finds a rural community devastated by globalisation and European agricultural policies, and local farmers longing, like Labrouste himself, for an impossible return to what they remember as the golden age.
Written by one of the most provocative and prophetic novelists of his generation, Serotonin is at once a devastating story of solitude, longing and individual suffering, and a powerful criticism of modern life.
Between Two Worlds by Olivier Norek – CALAIS
Adam Sirkis needs to flee Syria. A captain in Assad’s military police, he’s about to be exposed as a covert member of the Free Syrian Army, and he knows exactly what fate awaits him.
His first move is to send his wife and daughter to Libya, where they can find a boat heading for Europe. Adam himself winds up in France in the Calais Jungle, the infamous camp for migrants seeking passage to the fabled Youké.
Bastien Miller, a police lieutenant freshly transferred to the Calais police force, arrives at about the same time. His wife is drowning in grief for her late father and their teenage daughter may never forgive them for the move.
When Adam risks his life to protect a young migrant, the two officers make a deal – information on Adam’s family in exchange for intel from the Jungle. Then a body is found in the camp, and the deal becomes an alliance, uniting them in a common cause to do one good deed in a world where vice is a virtue.
We hope you enjoy your selection of great books set in Northern France!
Tony for the TripFiction Team
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