Summary
Following the tragic drowning of his beloved daughter Léopoldine in 1843 and his expulsion from France after Napoleon III’s coup in 1851, Victor Hugo found himself living in political exile on the island of Jersey.
In 1853, he joined a table séance at the invitation of his house guest Delphine de Girardin. When the table identified itself as Léopoldine, Hugo’s curiosity was awakened, beginning one of the most extraordinary and least explored episodes of his life.
Over the next two years, Hugo, his family, close friends, and fellow exiles gathered at Marine Terrace—the white rectangular house Hugo likened to a tomb—to record a series of conversations with a remarkable cast of communicators—from historical and religious figures such as Shakespeare, Molière, and Jesus to abstract entities including Death, Drama, the Shadow of the Sepulcher, and even the sleeping Louis-Napoleon, who appeared to communicate while dreaming. They spoke of God, death, immortality, history, politics, justice, poetry, love, and the destiny of humanity, leaving behind a unique record arguably unlike any other in nineteenth-century literature.
Drawing on the original French manuscripts, At Victor Hugo’s: The Jersey Séances presents a carefully selected English translation, accompanied by explanatory notes and commentary.
Whether approached as an extraordinary chapter in Hugo’s life, a literary curiosity, a historical document, or something altogether more profound, the Jersey séances remain among the most fascinating and enigmatic records ever left by one of the world’s greatest writers.
