of Writers | Saint-Malo – Mont-Saint-Michel Bay

Literature

of our Destination

François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)

A writer and precursor of the Romantic movement, he led an active political life by becoming successively Minister and then Ambassador. Buried on the islet of the Grand BéChateaubriand’s birthplace at 3 Rue du Grand Bé, in which he was born in 1768, is today a three-star hotel: the Hotel de France et Chateaubriand. As you approach, you will discover a commemorative plaque and an explanatory desk. Inside the Saint-Malo history museum, you can also admire the portrait of Chateaubriand painted by Anne-Louis Girodet.the monumental work of the writer and politician from Saint-Malo is, without doubt, the Memoirs from beyond the grave. The first books recreate his childhood in the small Breton nobility in Saint-Malo and at the castle of Combourg where he moved with his family in 1777. In his work, he describes his childhood in Combourg as gloomy, but the small town of character will nevertheless be a huge source of inspiration for his memoirs. In Combourg, the cradle of romanticism, the writer is still very present and several tourist itineraries allow you to retrace his history.Chateaubriand had asked to be buried on the island of Grand-Bé. Near the cliff, facing the sea. At low tide, it is possible to reach the tomb, classified as a historical monument.

Statue De Francois Rene De Chateaubriand Combourg Alexandre Lamoureux 717

Tombe De Francois Rene De Charteaubriand Ilot Du Grand Be Saint Malo Smbmsm 403

Statue Chateaubriand Dol De Bretagne Smbmsm 2302

Want to write your memoirs!?

Our notebooks with the effigy of Chateaubriand are on sale in our offices, at 9.50 €!

Colette

Colette (1873-1954), a sultry novelist, knight of the Legion of Honor in 1920, president of the Goncourt Academy in 1947 and the most photographed writer of the 20th century, did not fail to mark her presence in the Malouine region.From 1910 to 1924, the woman of letters spent her summers in a seaside villa, hidden in the greenery on the edge of the Touesse beach in the Commune of Saint-Coulomb. The wild and enchanting setting of the Colombian coast inspired several novels, including Le Blé en Herbe. This love novel takes place in a vacation house on the Malouin coast. Colette was undoubtedly strongly inspired by her own holiday home, the villa Roz Ven, to set the scene for her work. Although the property is a private estate, you can see it while hiking on the GR 34.

Dunes De Roz Ven St Coulomb Alexandre Lamoureux 8590

smbmsm Lire Parc De La Briantais Saint Malo

Antony Doerr

Antony Doerr was born in 1973 in Ohio, USA. This American writer has become known for several works, including the novel All the Light You Can’t See, which won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2015.In All the Light You Can See, the reader is partly immersed in Saint-Malo, under the German occupation. We follow the destiny of Marie-Laure, a young blind refugee from Paris, and a member of the Wehrmacht, a genius of electromagnetic transmissions. Two different lives blossoming thousands of miles apart that the Corsair city will bring together. In this work the city is described with precision and you will even be able to get a leaflet to follow the steps of the heroine, in intra-Muros.

Olivier Adam

The writer-screenwriter Olivier Adam, born in the Paris region in 1974 has lived in Saint-Malo for a decade, with his partner and his two children, in the years 2000. He was inspired by this period and his life in Saint-Malo to write his novel Des vents contraires, published in 2009, in which he tells the story of a lonely father with his two children who decides to return to his hometown, Saint-Malo, to try to rebuild his family’s life.

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