Romain Sardou
Encyclopedia
Romain Sardou is a French novelist born in Boulogne-Billancourt
, Hauts-de-Seine
. He is the son of the singer and songwriter Michel Sardou
.
. This precocious love led him to the discovery of the theater, then literature
. His infatuation for reading quickly gained precedence over his love of music. He grew up among the works and lives of great authors whom he cherished. This passion is almost all-encompassing and was to stay with him for life.
He left high school in the year before graduation with the firm intention of becoming a playwright
. He enrolled in theater classes - which he followed for three years - in order to better understand the mechanics involved in the art of stage craft and more clearly discern the acting profession. In parallel he engaged in numerous “writing exercises”, all aimed at the theater. Unsatisfied, he settled in the country for four years during which he built up his book collection and read voraciously the works of historians. He then left the country to work for two years in Los Angeles, where he wrote scripts for children.
He eventually came back to France
where he got married and wrote a successful first novel.
Romain Sardou is the father of two children. He wrote the tale entitled One Second Before Christmas for them.
The “chill winds of the Devil” isolate from the rest of the world the small diocese
of Draguan, in the county of Toulouse.
Before the sight of the statue of the Virgin Mary broken by the cold, Romée de Haquin, its bishop, is not far from thinking that a curse is wreaking havoc on his parishes. Everything started when two young girls found the remains of tortured bodies in the river…
The savage murder of Haquin leaves the village in prey to the most irrational fears. It is at this point that a mysterious priest, Henno Gui, makes his entrance. Accompanied by a young boy and by a hideously ugly man, he had been summoned by Haquin to take charge of the thirteenth parish of the diocese
, Heurteloup. After three days of walking in a forest which is as dark as it is inextricable, the group reaches the entrance of a deserted village. The church is in ruins and many houses are abandoned… Surrounded by foul-smelling marshlands and suspected of carrying the plague
, the third parish has lived in oblivion for decades. Nobody knows what has happened to its inhabitants…
The cursed parish, the thirteenth of the bishropic, is so isolated that its name is often omitted from the maps of the provostship, but it does however interest the highest echelons in Rome
. The Holy See
is full of rumours, and agitations in the most secret inner circles of the Vatican
have had repercussions as far afield as the kingdom of France
. Maybe the key to these mysteries can be found in the troubled life of Romée de Haquin, or with Henno Gui, the priest with the strange methods, or found at the very heart of the thirteenth parish?
At least that is what nine knights, willing to risk their lives in the attempt to recover it, believe. And when, in 1099, the long-awaited news of the liberation of Jerusalem comes at last, the knights promise their aid and protection to the thousands of pilgrims
who set off for the Holy Land
. They set about organising a vast pilgrimage, which will enable them to conceal their true aim.
But just before they set off, one of them is murdered. Whether by accident or by design, he leaves a packet of letters about the secret buried deep in the Holy Land
- a secret known to King Solomon – for his nephew Cosimo to find. Soon the young man discovers that his uncle had organised everything as if in the knowledge that he would never return from the Holy Land
. Why?
Cosimo determines to find out. Unbeknownst to everyone, he insinuates himself into one of the groups of pilgrims.
What will they be searching for in Jerusalem?
And now, imagine that the story of this novel is situated either in the past or in the future. But is it really the past and the future? And if it is, then why does everything happen in the same way?
deliver all his packages at once?.... Where is his factory?… Who makes the gifts?… How does it all really work?
These questions about the wonderment and mechanics of Christmas are the farthest thing possible from the thoughts of young Harold on the 16th of October, 1851. Harold is an orphan and street urchin in the sad, gray industrial never-town of Cokecuttle, in Lancashire
, England
– and he does not suspect the exceptional adventure awaiting him….
Indeed, Harold is about to be called to duty as the new Santa Claus
, delivering presents and happiness to his fellow children around the world. He’s given the familiar red suit and a big white beard, too. And he’s set to task.
But… how does Santa Claus
deliver all those packages in one night? What about the elves and reindeer
? Our little Harold will have to find a very quick answer to those questions after all.
Boulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-Billancourt is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Boulogne-Billancourt is a sub-prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt....
, Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
. He is the son of the singer and songwriter Michel Sardou
Michel Sardou
Michel Sardou is a French singer.He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin . Contrary to claims common towards the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou...
.
Biography
Romain Sardou was born of a long line of artists, singers, actors, writers, he developed a passion at an early young age for opera - he was just ten years old when he discovered his fascination for Richard WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. This precocious love led him to the discovery of the theater, then literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. His infatuation for reading quickly gained precedence over his love of music. He grew up among the works and lives of great authors whom he cherished. This passion is almost all-encompassing and was to stay with him for life.
He left high school in the year before graduation with the firm intention of becoming a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. He enrolled in theater classes - which he followed for three years - in order to better understand the mechanics involved in the art of stage craft and more clearly discern the acting profession. In parallel he engaged in numerous “writing exercises”, all aimed at the theater. Unsatisfied, he settled in the country for four years during which he built up his book collection and read voraciously the works of historians. He then left the country to work for two years in Los Angeles, where he wrote scripts for children.
He eventually came back to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he got married and wrote a successful first novel.
Romain Sardou is the father of two children. He wrote the tale entitled One Second Before Christmas for them.
Forgive us our Sins
1284.The “chill winds of the Devil” isolate from the rest of the world the small diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Draguan, in the county of Toulouse.
Before the sight of the statue of the Virgin Mary broken by the cold, Romée de Haquin, its bishop, is not far from thinking that a curse is wreaking havoc on his parishes. Everything started when two young girls found the remains of tortured bodies in the river…
The savage murder of Haquin leaves the village in prey to the most irrational fears. It is at this point that a mysterious priest, Henno Gui, makes his entrance. Accompanied by a young boy and by a hideously ugly man, he had been summoned by Haquin to take charge of the thirteenth parish of the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
, Heurteloup. After three days of walking in a forest which is as dark as it is inextricable, the group reaches the entrance of a deserted village. The church is in ruins and many houses are abandoned… Surrounded by foul-smelling marshlands and suspected of carrying the plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
, the third parish has lived in oblivion for decades. Nobody knows what has happened to its inhabitants…
The cursed parish, the thirteenth of the bishropic, is so isolated that its name is often omitted from the maps of the provostship, but it does however interest the highest echelons in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
is full of rumours, and agitations in the most secret inner circles of the Vatican
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
have had repercussions as far afield as the kingdom of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Maybe the key to these mysteries can be found in the troubled life of Romée de Haquin, or with Henno Gui, the priest with the strange methods, or found at the very heart of the thirteenth parish?
The Spark of God
Deep beneath Jerusalem, from the beginning of time, lies an object that could change the world: the Spark of God.At least that is what nine knights, willing to risk their lives in the attempt to recover it, believe. And when, in 1099, the long-awaited news of the liberation of Jerusalem comes at last, the knights promise their aid and protection to the thousands of pilgrims
Pilgrims
Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...
who set off for the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. They set about organising a vast pilgrimage, which will enable them to conceal their true aim.
But just before they set off, one of them is murdered. Whether by accident or by design, he leaves a packet of letters about the secret buried deep in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
- a secret known to King Solomon – for his nephew Cosimo to find. Soon the young man discovers that his uncle had organised everything as if in the knowledge that he would never return from the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. Why?
Cosimo determines to find out. Unbeknownst to everyone, he insinuates himself into one of the groups of pilgrims.
What will they be searching for in Jerusalem?
And now, imagine that the story of this novel is situated either in the past or in the future. But is it really the past and the future? And if it is, then why does everything happen in the same way?
Historical Characters in the Novel
- Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
- Hugues de Payens
- Baldwin II of JerusalemBaldwin II of JerusalemBaldwin II of Jerusalem , formerly Baldwin II of Edessa, also called Baldwin of Bourcq, born Baldwin of Rethel was the second count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and the third king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death.-Ancestry:Baldwin was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende,...
- Robert de CraonRobert de CraonRobert de Craon was the second Grand Master of the Knights Templar, from June 1136 until his death.He was born around the turn of the 12th century, the youngest of the three sons of Renaud de Craon...
- Godfrey de Saint-Omer
- Andre de MontbardAndré de MontbardAndré de Montbard was the fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar and also one of the founders of the Order....
Historical Places in the Novel
- Jerusalem
- TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
- ClairvauxClairvauxClairvaux can mean the following:*Clairvaux, a former commune in France, now part of Ville-sous-la-Ferté. It is the home of**Clairvaux Abbey in France**Clairvaux Prison, France, on the site of the abbey*Saint Bernard of Clairvaux...
- County of Champagne
- ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
See also
- Knights TemplarKnights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
- Solomon's TempleSolomon's TempleSolomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
- First CrusadeFirst CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
- PilgrimagePilgrimageA pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
- Uchronie
- Time travel in fictionTime travel in fictionTime travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
One Second before Christmas
How does Santa ClausSanta Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
deliver all his packages at once?.... Where is his factory?… Who makes the gifts?… How does it all really work?
These questions about the wonderment and mechanics of Christmas are the farthest thing possible from the thoughts of young Harold on the 16th of October, 1851. Harold is an orphan and street urchin in the sad, gray industrial never-town of Cokecuttle, in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
– and he does not suspect the exceptional adventure awaiting him….
Indeed, Harold is about to be called to duty as the new Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
, delivering presents and happiness to his fellow children around the world. He’s given the familiar red suit and a big white beard, too. And he’s set to task.
But… how does Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
deliver all those packages in one night? What about the elves and reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
? Our little Harold will have to find a very quick answer to those questions after all.
Places in this Christmas Tale
- LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
- EquuleusEquuleusEquuleus is a constellation. Its name is Latin for 'little horse', a foal. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is the second smallest of the modern constellations , spanning only 72 square degrees...
- North PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
- AberdeenshireAberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...