This summer, head to the Bay of Somme without leaving your sofa

Praised by more than a million readers around the world, Anne-Gaëlle Huon places the plot of her latest novel, “Le Rossignol”, in the heart of the Bay of Somme. Marquenterre Park, bird whistlers, she puts Picardy in the spotlight in this book published by Albin Michel. Immersing yourself in it during this summer of 2024 means taking a breath of exotic air without leaving your living room. Interview.

Son premier roman, The ladies, met with great success. Since then, Anne-Gaëlle Huon has won over a million people around the world thanks to her sensitive and luminous writing and her ability to awaken readers’ five senses. His latest novel, The Nightingale, published in May 2024, is a poetic ode to nature, birds and friendship. The Bay of Somme is more than a setting, a real character in the plot. Anne-Gaëlle Huon returns in this interview to the real crush she had on the Picardy coast.

One day, I attended a show by the Chanteurs d’oiseaux, Johnny Rasse and Jean Boucault. An emotion went through me, which I could not name, and it troubled me. When I saw these two artists arrive on stage, I thought I saw birds, I started to cry and I did not understand why.

I live in Paris and birds are not necessarily part of my daily life. As I turned to the people sitting next to me, a gathering of jaded Parisians, it must be said, I saw that they too were in tears and I found it wonderful that we felt this same emotion that, presumably, called for something greater than ourselves.

So I decided to go to the Bay of Somme, I discovered the world of bird whistlers and I imagined a story of friendship within their community.

It’s a very difficult novel to summarize because there are a lot of secrets. This is the story of Tony, a young boy who is 10 years old at the start of this story and who lives in the Bay of Somme. His dad is a shepherd and he himself tries to talk to birds, to imitate them well enough to win the big bird imitator competition which takes place every year in his village. He does it to impress his father and above all, gain his attention.

A new guy arrives in his class, a little Parisian called Louis. Everything opposes them. Tony was born in the bay, he doesn’t make much of a living; the other lives in a large castle, he comes from Paris, he has never set foot in Picardy and he knows nothing about birds.

I wanted to write a story of a wonderful friendship, one that stays with you for a lifetime, from life to death.

Anne-Gaëlle Huon

Novelist

The difference will make these two children attract each other. There will be a strange fascination that will oscillate between annoyance and admiration. They will develop a wonderful friendship for each other, the kind that lasts a lifetime, from life to death.

We find them twenty years later – it’s a story with two timelines. One has become an international star and the other is nobody. They hate each other since something bad happened and they will have to reconnect with each other to continue living.

The Bay of Somme is a succession of changing landscapes as the hours pass. And then, it’s an open-air aviary, an airport for birds, between the North and the South. They all go through this, so much so that it is ultimately men who live among the birds. There is a form of respect. I was very touched to see that these songs, this talent for speaking with animals, were quite widespread.

I had the chance to meet lots of other specialists, guides, local people, who shared their love of birds with me. Of course, that’s not what the novel is about. It’s not a book about ornithology, it’s not a book about birds but, in this case, the setting connects with the story and tells us a lot about the interiority of the characters.

For each novel, I have a sort of ally, someone who will help me, a sneaker sewer for The ladiesa great starred chef for What the stars owe to the night. It’s like my hotline, someone I can call all the time.

This time it was Gwendo. I met her at a writing workshop I organized and we became good friends. I didn’t even know she was Picardy! We spent the night in a hut, her husband’s, and it was an incredible experience, which I recount in the book with all the distance that is mine, and the humor that characterizes me, too.

My daughter Alma is too small but my sons Marius and Jules are the age of my heroes, they are passionate about nature and they were very involved during my research. Together, we crossed the bay on foot and spent hours and hours visiting the Marquenterre park.

I love doing long investigation sessions. Sometimes I even wonder if writing isn’t an excuse so I can have time to do all this research! I find it intellectually very nourishing. And above all, the challenge is to restore that in a humble and light way. We don’t want to read about birds, but rather to feel emotion and discover the lives of characters. So it’s nice to be able to infuse all of that while keeping only the best.

To put myself in the shoes of this little Tony, obviously I had to know how to sing, so in my office I imitated many birds. I wanted to perceive how a bird whistler puts his mouth, his lips, his tongue and describe these bird cries as best as possible, so that the reader feels immersed.

I have an approach to writing that is quite mystical. Literature, for me, is something a little magical, something that “contacts” you, as an author, like a transistor that is a little better tuned. What I feel is that an idea comes to you and says: “I need to be embodied here.”, probably because people need to receive it.

I approach the profession of writer with great humility, because I am just a passer. It’s nice that this story came to me, because I think that people need to read it. In any case, according to the feedback from readers, I have the impression that it is a book that is good for the soul.

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After reading the novel The ladiesmany of Anne-Gaëlle Huon’s admirers have contacted her to tell her that they had decided to visit the Basque Country thanks to her. There is no doubt that readers of the Rossignolpublished by Albin Michel, might be tempted by a trip to the Bay of Somme.