Magical Tales from French Camelot

The legend of King Arthur began in Britain. But it is in twelfth-century France that the stories really took off, with gifted writers creating a panoply of vivid new characters and elements such as Lancelot, Perceval, the Grail and the doomed love between Lancelot and Guinevere, within a richly imagined, action-packed world of adventure, magic, romance and mystery. Women as much as men are important characters in the French stories, there’s an intriguing take on shapeshifters and other supernatural beings, and fascinating glimpses of the patterns and customs of medieval life as well as explorations of conscience and the true nature of courage. In the process these extraordinary medieval writers, such as Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France, created a whole new immensely popular genre of literature whose appeal and influence endures to this day.

This beautiful new collection of stories translated and powerfully retold by Sophie Masson and superbly illustrated by Lorena Carrington will introduce you to some of the most striking tales and extraordinary characters and places from the French Arthurian tradition, transporting you into a gripping, magical world like no other.

About the Author

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, of French parents, Sophie Masson came to Australia at the age of 5, after spending 4 years with her grandmother in France, due to illness striking when she was a baby in Indonesia. All her childhood, the family moved back and forth between Australia and France, unable to make up their minds as to where to live, so Sophie grew up between worlds, and between languages, an experience which has formed a lot of her work. A bilingual French and English speaker, she was educated in schools in both Australia and France, and has a BA and M.Litt in French and English Literature from the University of New England in northern NSW. In 2018 she successfully completed a PhD in creative practice, also at UNE, which was officially awarded in 2019.

About the Illustrator

Lorena Carrington is a photographic artist and illustrator with an interest in lost and forgotten fairy tales.