''The Tragic Innocents'' () is a 1946 novel by the French writer

René Barjavel René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeastern ...

. It tells the story of two teenagers, Jean Tarendol and Marie Margherite, who fall in love in occupied France during World War II. The story is set in an imaginary region inspired by the author's native

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

. The book was published in English in 1948, translated by

Eithne Wilkins Eithne Wilkins (born Ethne Una Lilian Wilkins; 12 September 1914 – 13 March 1975) was a Germanic Studies scholar, translator and poet from New Zealand. Life and work She was born in Wellington to Edgar Wilkins, an Irish doctor, and his wife Eve ...

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' wrote: "This is a story of young love, set in war-time France, poetic, passionately written, with much of beauty -- and yet with an aura of unreality, which perhaps is intentional, in keeping with the mood of the lovers. ... An odd blend of sophistication, of Gallic outspokenness, with a simplicity, almost a naivete, makes this unique in its field. Beautifully translated by Eithne Wilkins, the English text loses nothing of the grace of language."

Adaptation

The novel was adapted into a 1980 television serial with the same title directed by Louis Grospierre. The serial ran in four episodes starring Jacques Penot as Jean,

Florence Pernel Florence Pernel (born 30 June 1962) is a French actress. Early life Pernel was born on 30 June 1962 in Paris. She began her acting career at the age of 10 with the TV serial ''Plein soleil'' and two years later she made her film debut with Just ...

as Marie and

Daniel Gélin Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French film and television actor. Early life Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, ...

as Bazalo.

References

1946 French novels French novels adapted into films French-language novels Novels by René Barjavel Hamish Hamilton books {{1940s-specf-novel-stub