A Tale of Brittany (Pierre Loti Library)

This tale of Breton peasant life, with its simple joys and sorrows, is beautifully told. There are grim and sordid scenes at Brest showing the temptations that lie in wait for the sailor as he comes ashore, and the sufferings of the wives living in the seaport, and of course there are characteristic description of the Breton country-side. Parallel with these there are descriptions of life in a warship during its cruise about the world.

Pierre Loti, perhaps the world's most prolific, romantic and exotic travel writer and novelist, was born as Julien Marie Viaud in Rochefort in Western France in 1850. A Childhood fascination with exotic lands across the seas led him to embark on a naval career that enabled him to seek love and adventure in many latitudes. He drew on these real life experiences when writing the romantic novels and travel books that made him one of the most popular authors of his day. Although his prolific output brought him both fame and fortune he remained a romantic escapist and never gave up his beloved naval career. He retired from the French navy in 1910 and died in 1923.