The Camargue between the pages: books to travel before you go
As you know by now, before every departure and after every return I try to start my journey early and make it last longer through reading, choosing books that can transport me to the places I’m about to discover or have just seen.
On the one hand, I love walking through the streets and thinking: “this is exactly where that character did that”. On the other, I love wandering through the pages, recognising a place and giving the events a writer describes a more real and personal dimension, full of sounds and scents.
And that’s exactly what I did with books set in the Camargue.
If you’re lucky enough to speak good French (unlike my rather wobbly French!), you’ll find endless options. But in the three languages of our travel diary, believe me, the search turned into a little treasure hunt.
The best books set in the Camargue
I have to admit that finding books in Italian, Spanish or English wasn’t easy at all. And some of them were too superficial, unable to capture the true soul of the place.
To my surprise, along the way I also found myself enjoying a couple of young adult novels that took me straight back to our beloved Camargue. Sadly, they’re only available in Italian, so you won’t find them here.
So here is my first list of the best books set in the Camargue, trying to cover all its different sides. As always, wherever possible, I’ve added links to make your search easier:
📖 The Beast, and Other Tales
Original title La Bèstio dóu Vacarés – Joseph d’Arbaud
It’s considered the founding text of modern Occitan prose. It sits halfway between reality and fantasy, yet it paints an unforgettable picture of the Camargue, of the nostalgia for vanishing traditions and of a deep bond of friendship and compassion. It took me a while to find it in Italian, but I finally did, and I loved it. Good news for English readers: Joyce Zonana’s translation (Northwestern University Press, 2020) also includes three more of d’Arbaud’s stories.
📖 Caravan to Vaccarès
Alistair MacLean
It’s set mainly in the marshes of the Rhône delta and revolves around the Romani pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. As you read, you’ll come across marshes, horses, countryside, isolation, farms and all the atmosphere of the south of France. Take it for what it is: an old-school thriller, enjoyable, but with a portrayal of the Romani people that today feels somewhat dated and stereotyped. Unlike the Italian edition, in English it’s easy to find, still in print with HarperCollins.
📖 Mirèio
Original title Mirèio – Frédéric Mistral
This one was recommended to me by a librarian, during a chat. It’s an epic poem in twelve cantos, around 6,000–7,000 lines long: get ready for a sort of Provençal Divine Comedy! It tells the impossible love story of Mireille, daughter of a wealthy farmer from the Crau, and Vincent, a poor basket-maker. In all honesty, it’s not my genre: this kind of writing makes it harder for me to immerse myself in the landscapes and the story. But I promise it’s an ode to Provence, and from Canto X onwards it talks more concretely about the Camargue: its wild nature, its age-old traditions and the people who live there. The English translation by Harriet Waters Preston is free on Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks.
📖 Letters from My Windmill
Original title Lettres de mon moulin – Alphonse Daudet
A great classic of French literature: a collection of stories set in Provence, among windmills, shepherds and legends. It’s not a book entirely devoted to the Camargue, but it includes one story that’s worth the read on its own: the one set in the Camargue, where Daudet goes duck hunting and takes us among reed huts, herds of bulls and horses, all the way to the Vaccarès lagoon, which for him was the most beautiful thing in the Camargue. Don’t miss his portrait of the poet Mistral either, the author of Mirèio and a friend of Daudet’s. You’ll find it free on Project Gutenberg.
🎬 White Mane
Original title Crin-Blanc – Albert Lamorisse (1953)
First of all, it’s a film, and it’s truly worth watching before you go. It tells the story of Folco, a young boy who lives in the marshes with his fisherman grandfather, and of his friendship with White Mane, a wild white stallion that no gardian can catch. It dates from 1953, it’s in black and white and it’s short: little time for a small gem you shouldn’t miss. ⚠️ If you watch it with children, be aware that the ending is moving and a little melancholy.
There’s also a book based on the film, by René Guillot. I found the Italian version at my local library, and I recommend you do the same: libraries are often where the hardest-to-find titles hide!
The Camargue and the south of France, with their lonely landscapes and ancient traditions, have inspired quite a few writers from abroad. Here’s a short selection set in the Camargue: I haven’t read them yet, so if you have, let me know what you think in the comments!
🔍 For mystery lovers
- Deadly Camargue by Cay Rademacher: in the August heat, a fighting bull gores a Parisian journalist who was in the Camargue to write about Van Gogh. An accident? Captain Roger Blanc isn’t so sure.
- Bones in the Wilderness by George Bellairs (1959): a golden-age classic in which Scotland Yard’s Inspector Littlejohn investigates an antiques dealer whose bones turn up in the wilds of the Camargue.
- The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall: a Cold War spy story set in 1953 on a bull farm near Arles, praised by readers for its descriptions of the Camargue.
💕 For romance lovers
If you’re after something lighter, the Camargue has also been the setting for a few vintage romances:
- The Feast of Sara by Anne Weale (1965): a young Englishwoman travels to the Camargue to help her cousin and falls for a gardian.
- The Wild Cry of Love by Barbara Cartland (1976): in 1899, an heiress escapes an arranged marriage by joining a Romani caravan heading to the Camargue.
- The Gathering Darkness by Patricia Wilson: a young woman accompanies a little girl back to her father’s ranch in the Camargue.
This is my first list of books set in the Camargue, and it’s a bit of a mix: some are books I’ve read and loved (or, in all honesty, a little less!), others are titles I discovered along the way and haven’t had the chance to read yet. That’s exactly why I’d love your help. If you’ve read any of them, tell me what you thought in the comments, and if you know other books set in the Camargue, especially in English, Italian or Spanish, I’d be delighted to discover them and, who knows, add them to the next list!
And if you now feel like swapping the pages for the real marshes, my Camargue guide has everything you need to plan your trip: from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where Mireille ended her journey and where the pilgrims of Caravan to Vaccarès arrive, to the salt pans of Aigues-Mortes, which you’ll never look at the same way again.
Happy reading, and happy travels!
