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by Françoise Lapeyre (Author)
Born in 1820, Léonie d?Aunet is nineteen when she leaves Paris for northern Europe and boards La recherche, a scientific exploration ship, with her husband, the painter François Biard. They are en route for Spitzberg on a prestigious research expedition. She recounts her travels in her popular book, several times reprinted, Voyage d?une femme au Spitzberg.
In 1844, a short time after Leopoldine's death, Victor Hugo meets Léonie d?Aunet. She is a beautiful and cultivated young mother still basking in the glory of her adventure. Theirs is a passionate romance that Hugo's biographers claim inspired some of his most beautiful love poems. But this passion will be at a terrible expense for Léonie: prison, isolation and separation from her children. She bravely rebuilds her life, a difficult undertaking for a woman alone in the 19th century, and becomes a journalist and novelist.
