Even if she did not realise it at the time, the embryo of Angélique and her adventures was probably growing in Anne’s mind. She was said to be ‘devastated’ that her husband was not promoted to the rank of admiral.įrance’s failure to recognise his patriotic efforts also made a lasting impression on a young girl who saw, perhaps for the first time, how individuals could find themselves fettered and frustrated by the power of the state. Her father’s failure to rise to a status befitting his reputation as a thinker and an innovator had a major impact on Anne’s mother, a virtuoso pianist and the granddaughter of Charles Heidsieck, the original ‘ Champagne Charlie‘ who founded a champagne house that still thrives today.

The solution was to entrust the work to little Simone – still only ten years old – and she painted more than 500 books. Sadly, the French military were less than enthusiastic about his book and were unwilling to pay for the job of colouring the black-and-white maps. He was also a scientist and an explorer whose main interest became saving pilots’ lives by publishing a book of aerial drawings”.

Her father, as Anne later recalled, “was crazy about the new motor planes and all kinds of machines which would increase the potential of the French army. She was christened Simone Changeux but the world would come to know her as Anne – actually the last and most famous of several pen names she has used during her career.

The paths of the attractive Frenchwoman and the charming man who was born in Persia would finally cross in Africa, but both had already tasted adventure long before they met.Īnne was born in December 1921 in the southern France port of Toulon, where her father, a captain in the French navy, was posted. That two such remarkable people should be attracted to each other is not surprising, but the fact that they found each other is. And they have all the same elements that made Angélique’s story such a hit with readers. The real life adventures of Anne and Serge Golon are almost as exciting as those of their heroine – and could make a bestselling story in their own right. Librarians might have difficulty deciding whether the story should be filed under historical, romantic or pure adventure… but this time we are not talking about the fictional adventures of Angélique.

Angelique and the King by Anne Golon