Great Meaulnes: A New Translation

Le Grand Meaulnes, known in English as The Great Meaulnes (and also titled The Lost Domain or The Wanderer), is the singular novel of Alain-Fournier, first published in 1913, shortly before the author's untimely death . This coming-of-age masterpiece is narrated by the introspective fifteen-year-old François Seurel, whose mundane existence in a rural school is dramatically altered by the arrival of a charismatic and enigmatic boarder, Augustin Meaulnes.

Tall, mysterious, and adventurous, Meaulnes embodies adolescent idealism. His impulsive disappearance one evening leads him to a fantastical masked fête at a forgotten château-a moment that irrevocably transforms his life. There, he meets the ethereal Yvonne de Galais and falls hopelessly in love, sparking a lifelong quest to reunite with her and reclaim the distinct realm of innocence and wonder he discovers in that fleeting moment.

The Great Meaulnes captures the universal ache of adolescence-the yearning for a lost paradise that can never return and the poignant chasm between youthful fantasy and adult reality. While François stands on the sidelines, it is Meaulnes' journey that drives the narrative: through romantic longing, nostalgic memories, and the haunting sense that beauty and innocence are both ephemeral and eternal.

Richly evocative and suffused with nostalgia, the novel remains a beloved classic of French literature-praised for its lyrical depiction of lost youth and the bittersweet search for the "great unknown." This edition invites readers to experience again the ineffable magic of a novel that continues to stir hearts and imaginations more than a century after its first publication.