num_pages: 426
description: Perhaps no other of his novels better reveals Giono's perfect balance between lyricism and narrative, description and characterization, the epic and the particular, than The Horseman on the Roof. This novel, which Giono began writing in 1934 and which was published in 1951, expanded and solidified his reputation as one of Europe's most important writers.This is a novel of adventure, a roman courtois, that tells the story of Angelo, a nobleman who has been forced to leave Italy because of a duel, and is returning to his homeland by way of Provence. But that region is in the grip of a cholera epidemic, travelers are being imprisoned behind barricades, and exposure to the disease is almost certain.Angelo's escapades, adventures, and heroic self-sacrifice in this hot, hallucinatory landscape, among corpses, criminals, and rioting townspeople, share this epic tale.
language: English
title: The Horseman on the Roof
titlecomplete: The Horseman on the Roof
characters: Pauline de Théus, Angelo Pardi, Giuseppe
genres: Classics, Adventure, France, Roman, Novels, Romance, Historical Fiction, 20th Century, French Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 1661
series: Le Cycle du Hussard 
publisher: North Point Press