maurice leblanc arsene lupin gentleman thief

The ‘hollow needle’ after which the book is named is a natural rock formation off the coast in Etretat, described it as housing the secret treasures of the Kings of France. The Hollow Needle (1909): The book starts near Dieppe, on the cliffs between the villages of Sainte-Marguerite and Varengeville. The ninth chapter, Sherlock Holmes arrives too late, is set in the Pays de Caux, refers to the Paris-Le Havre train and features the Château de Thibermesnil, an actual 16th-century chateau near Dieppe.

The fourth chapter, The Mysterious Traveller, is set on a train to Rouen. There are also mentions of Rouen and Caudebec-en-Caux. Leblanc also often ventures beyond reality, creating an alternate Normandy for his readers:Īrsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar (1907): The Château de Malaquis is referenced in the second chapter, Arsène Lupin in prison, and was set next to the River Seine.

Naturally, Leblanc’s fond childhood memories of Normandy would feed into the scenarios he created for his protagonist, with several of Lupin’s adventures taking place in what Leblanc dubbed the ‘Cauchois triangle’, the area between the cities of Rouen, Le Havre and Dieppe. Places in Normandy that feature in the books Below we’ve put together a list of some of Leblanc’s most popular books that reference the region of his birth. Based on the parallels drawn between Leblanc’s first book The extraordinary adventures of Arsène Lupin and Lupin part 1, and the number of times Normandy featured in the books that followed, there’s every reason to hope the region will play a bigger role in part 2. Will we be seeing more of Normandy in part 2 of Lupin? Although part 1 was set mainly in Paris, we did see Etretat feature towards the end of episode 5. Yet superman Lupin, both in the books and on screen, always manages to triumph somehow over his enemies, even when all seems lost, through bending the rules, outsmarting the police and sheer self-belief. In the series, this is echoed by Assane’s alter-egos Paul Sernine, Luis Perenna and Salvatore813, as well as his choice of name for his son, Raoul. He takes on a multitude of personas in the books, constantly changing his looks and his name – examples include Prince Paul Sernine, Raoul d’Andrésy, Horace Velmont and Don Luis Perenna.

Who was the original Lupin? Not unlike Lupin in the TV series, the Arsène Lupin of the books was a thief, a master of disguise, a rascal but never a killer, a hit with the ladies and a righter of wrongs who takes from the rich, a French Robin Hood if you like.

Maurice leblanc arsene lupin gentleman thief