''Sophie's Misfortunes'' () is a children's book written by the

Countess of Ségur Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of Ségur, born Sofiya Feodorovna Rostopchina (; 1 August 1799 in Saint Petersburg – 8 February 1874 in Paris), was a French writer of Russian birth and origin. She is best known today for her novel ''Les Malheur ...

. The book was published in 1858 by the publisher

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

. The illustrations were by Horace Castelli, a French artist. This is the first book of a trilogy; its sequels are ''

Good Little Girls ''Good Little Girls''Also known as ''The Granddaughter's Model'' () is a 1971 French film directed by Jean-Claude Roy.Cf. IMDb The movie is a pastiche of Countess of Ségur's novel '' Les Petites Filles modèles'' matching comedy and erotism. ...

'' (1858) and ''

The Holidays The Holidays are an Australian indie pop/soul band. Formed in Sydney in 2006, the band consists of Simon Jones, Will Magnus, Alex Kortt and Andrew Kerridge. Their debut album '' Post Paradise'' was nominated for an Australian Music Prize. Biog ...

'' (1859).

Plot

The story is set in a castle in the French countryside, during the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

. Sophie is a mischievous girl who lives with her parents, Monsieur and Madame de Réan.

Legacy

The success of ''Sophie's Misfortunes'' has been constant through the years and still goes on today; the book has been republished many times. Overseas, as well, it has been very successful.

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

alluded to it in his novel ''

Ada Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

'' (1969), making up a novel called ''Sophie's Sophisms'' 'Les Sophismes de Sophie''by a so-called "Miss Stopchin", as well ''Les Malheurs de Swann'', a title which combines

and

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

. In the United Kingdom, the book was used as reference material to teach young girls French translation (boys would be trained using ''L'Histoire d'un conscrit de 1813'', written by

Erckmann-Chatrian Erckmann-Chatrian was the name used by French authors Émile Erckmann (1822–1899) and Alexandre Chatrian (1826–1890), nearly all of whose works were jointly written.Mary Ellen Snodgrass, ''Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature''. New York, Facts ...

Main characters

* Sophie de Réan * Monsieur and Madame de Réan, Sophie's parents * Paul d'Auber, Sophie's cousin * Camille and Madeleine de Fleurville, Sophie's friends

Adaptations

Cinema and television

The book has inspired numerous film and television adaptations, including: * '' Sophie's Misfortunes'' (1946), by Jacqueline Audry. * '' Sophie's Misfortunes'' (1979), by Jean-Claude Brialy. * '' Sophie's Misfortunes'' (2016), by Christophe Honoré.

Music

* In 1935, French composer

Jean Françaix Jean René Désiré Françaix (pronunciation Fran-say or Fran-seks) was born on 23 May 1912, in Le Mans and died in 25 September 1997, in Paris). Françaix was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator known for his prolific outp ...

wrote a ballet called ''Les Malheurs de Sophie'' (32 minutes, published by Schott). * ''Les Bonheurs de Sophie'', piano sheet music by Chantal Auber, La Pléiade, Préparatoire 1. * "Les Malheurs de Sophie", sung by

Chantal Goya Chantal de Guerre (; born 10 June 1942), known as Chantal Goya (), is a French singer and actress. Goya started her career as a ''yé-yé'' singer, singing a mid-1960s hybrid of girl-group pop and French ''chanson''. She also enjoyed a career ...

, a song from the movie made by

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

. * ''Les Malheurs de Sophie'' (2011), a musical by Virginie Aguzzoli.

Animation

* ''Trouble With Sophie'' (1997) is the only animated adaptation of Sophie's Misfortune. Information about this series is limited and the voice cast is practically unknown since they were never credited. The series was developed by Alya Animation and aired on France 3. There are 27 episodes in total. It shows the titular character, Sophie’s life from when she was a child to adulthood and the hardships throughout her life. The series now has many different YouTube channels with all of the episodes with both French and English audio. The TV series also tells the stories of the sequel books ‘Good Little Girls’ and ‘The Holidays’, making it a full story of Sophie's life and a complete adaptation of the ‘Fleurville Trilogy’.

Notes and references

* ''Les Nouveaux Malheurs de Sophie'', a novel by Valérie Dayre *
''Les Malheurs de Sophie'', audio version (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie's Misfortunes 1858 French novels 1850s children's books French historical novels French children's novels. Children's historical novels French-language children's books Novels set in France Children's books set in France Novels set in the 19th century Children's books set in the 19th century Novels set in castles Children's books set in castles Fictional French people in literature French novels adapted into films Children's books adapted into films French novels adapted into television shows Children's books adapted into television shows French novels adapted into plays Novels adapted into ballets Novels by the Countess of Ségur