Family Without a Name

Published in 1889, Family Without a Name is Jules Verne's passionate novel of rebellion and sacrifice. Set during the Patriot uprisings in French Canada, it tells the story of a family torn between loyalty to their homeland and the hidden truth of their own identity.

In the years following the British conquest of New France, the French-Canadian patriots rise up to fight for independence. Among them is Simon Morgaz, a man whose secret past makes him both a hero and a fugitive. To protect his family from persecution, he conceals their true surname — the family lives under a false identity, knowing that revelation of their name could mean imprisonment or death.

Jean-Baptiste and Clara, Simon's children, grow up unaware of the full truth of their father's past. As the rebellion intensifies, they must each decide where their loyalties lie. Jean-Baptiste is drawn to the patriot cause, while Clara struggles to hold the family together. Their mother, Bridget, guards the family's secret with fierce devotion, even as the conflict draws closer to their home.

Verne brings the Canadian landscape to life — the frozen rivers, the dense forests, the villages caught between two empires. Family Without a Name is a story of divided loyalties, of a father's sacrifice for his children, and of a people fighting for the right to speak their own language and live under their own laws. It is one of Verne's most politically engaged and emotionally powerful novels.