This is a list of novelists from France. Novelists in this list should be notable in some way, and have Wikipedia articles on them.
See also .
Born before 1800
- Antoine de la Sale (1385-1460/61)
- Philippe Camus (writer) (fl. 15th century)
- Sébastien Mamerot (between c. 1418 and 1440âÂÂ1490)
- Dr. François Rabelais (between 1483 and 1494âÂÂ1553)
- François de Belleforest (1530âÂÂ1 January 1583)
- François Béroalde de Verville (27 April 1556 â 19âÂÂ26 October 1626)
- Nicolas de Montreux (c. 1561âÂÂ1608)
- Marie de Gournay (1565âÂÂ1645)
- Honoré d'Urfé (1568âÂÂ1625)
- Antoine de Nervèze (c. 1570-after 1622)
- François du Souhait (between 1570 and 1580âÂÂ1617)
- Jean Ogier de Gombauld (1576âÂÂ1666)
- Charles Sorel (c. 1602âÂÂ1674)
- Madeleine de Scudéry (1607âÂÂ1701)
- Madame de Lafayette (1634âÂÂ1693), author of La Princesse de Clèves
- Alain-René Le Sage (1668âÂÂ1747)
- Pierre de Marivaux (1688âÂÂ1763)
- Voltaire (1694âÂÂ1778), philosophe, satirist, playwright, author of Candide
- Françoise de Graffigny (1695âÂÂ1758), author of Lettres d'une Péruvienne
- Abbé Prévost (1697âÂÂ1763), author of Manon Lescaut
- Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1707âÂÂ1777)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712âÂÂ1778), philosophe, author of Julie, or the New Heloise
- Denis Diderot (1713âÂÂ1784), philosophe, author of Rameau's Nephew
- Marie Jeanne Riccoboni (1714âÂÂ1792)
- Restif de la Bretonne (1734âÂÂ1806)
- Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737âÂÂ1814), author of Paul et Virginie
- Marquis de Sade (1740âÂÂ1814), author of "Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man", Justine, The 120 Days of Sodom, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Juliette
- Choderlos de Laclos (1741âÂÂ1803), author of Les Liaisons dangereuses
- Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766âÂÂ1817)
- Benjamin Constant (1767âÂÂ1830), author of Adolphe
- Sophie de Renneville (1772âÂÂ1822), writer, editor, journalist
- François-René de Chateaubriand (1768âÂÂ1848), author of Atala and René
- ÃÂtienne Pivert de Senancour (1770âÂÂ1846)
- Charles Nodier (1780âÂÂ1844)
- Fanny Tercy (1782âÂÂ1851), author of Pierre et Marcellin; sister-in-law of Charles Nodier
- Stendhal (1783âÂÂ1842), author of The Red and the Black, considered by some to be the first modern novel, and The Charterhouse of Parma
- ÃÂlise Voïart, (1786âÂÂ1866), writer and translator
- Charles Paul de Kock (1793âÂÂ1871)
- Antoinette Henriette Clémence Robert (1797âÂÂ1872)
- Charles Dezobry (1798âÂÂ1871), historian and historical novelist
- Honoré de Balzac (1799âÂÂ1850), author of La Comédie Humaine, a series of novels presenting a full picture of France in the early 19th century
Born 1800âÂÂ1900
- Alexandre Dumas, père (1802âÂÂ1870), author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers
- Victor Hugo (1802âÂÂ1885), author of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables
- Prosper Mérimée (1803âÂÂ1870), author of Carmen
- Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804âÂÂ1869)
- George Sand (1804âÂÂ1876), pseudonym of Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, Baroness Dudevant
- Eugène Sue (1804âÂÂ1857)
- Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (1808âÂÂ1889)
- Alfred de Musset (1810âÂÂ1857)
- Théophile Gautier (1811âÂÂ1872)
- Gustave Flaubert (1821âÂÂ1880), author of Madame Bovary and Sentimental Education
- Edmond de Goncourt (1822âÂÂ1896)
- Henri Murger (1822âÂÂ1861), author of Scènes de la vie de bohème
- Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824âÂÂ1895), author of La Dame aux camélias
- Edmond About (1828âÂÂ1885)
- Jules Verne (1828âÂÂ1905), writer of techno-thrillers like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and founding father of science fiction
- Pauline Cassin Caro (1828/34/35 â 1901), novelist
- Jules de Goncourt (1830âÂÂ1870)
- Hector Malot (1830âÂÂ1907)
- ÃÂmile Gaboriau (1832âÂÂ1873), pioneer of modern detective fiction
- Jules Vallès (1832âÂÂ1885)
- Eugène Le Roy (1836âÂÂ1907)
- Alphonse Daudet (1840âÂÂ1897)
- ÃÂmile Zola (1840âÂÂ1902), naturalist, author of Germinal and Nana
- Anatole France (1844âÂÂ1924)
- Léon Bloy (1846âÂÂ1917)
- Brada (1847âÂÂ1938)
- Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848âÂÂ1907), author of àrebours and Là-bas
- Guy de Maupassant (1850âÂÂ1893)
- Pierre Loti (1850âÂÂ1923)
- ÃÂlémir Bourges (1852âÂÂ1925)
- Paul Bourget (1852âÂÂ1935)
- René Bazin (1853âÂÂ1932)
- Hermine Lecomte du Noüy (1854âÂÂ1915)
- Adolphe Chenevière (1855âÂÂ19??)
- Claude Ferval (1856âÂÂ1943)
- Jean Bertheroy (1858âÂÂ1927)
- Jean de La Brète (1858âÂÂ1945)
- Maurice Barrès (1862âÂÂ1923)
- Henri Ardel (1863âÂÂ1938)
- Henri de Régnier (1864âÂÂ1936)
- Jules Renard (1864âÂÂ1910)
- Mathilde Alanic (1864âÂÂ1948)
- Marie Léra (1864âÂÂ1958)
- Juliette Heuzey (1865âÂÂ1952)
- Romain Rolland (1866âÂÂ1944), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1915
- Gaston Leroux (1868âÂÂ1927), author of The Phantom of the Opera and The Mystery of the Yellow Room which is recognized as the first locked room puzzle mystery novel
- Gabrielle Réval (1869âÂÂ1938)
- André Gide (1869âÂÂ1951)
- Henry Bordeaux (1870âÂÂ1963)
- Marcel Proust (1871âÂÂ1922), author of In Search of Lost Time, sometimes seen as the greatest modernist novel
- Colette (1873âÂÂ1954), best known for Gigi and Chéri
- Alfred Jarry (1873âÂÂ1907), satirist, inventor of Pataphysics
- Jeanne Landre (1874âÂÂ1936), journalist, critic and novelist
- Fanny Clar (1875âÂÂ1944)
- Louisa Emily Dobrée (fl. âÂÂ1917)
- Roger Martin du Gard (1881âÂÂ1958), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1937
- Louis Pergaud (1882âÂÂ1915)
- Rose Combe (1883âÂÂ1932)
- Georges Duhamel (1884âÂÂ1966)
- François Mauriac (1885âÂÂ1970), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1952
- Jules Romains (1885âÂÂ1972)
- Alain-Fournier (1886âÂÂ1914)
- ÃÂve Paul-Margueritte (1885âÂÂ1971)
- Lucie Paul-Margueritte (1886âÂÂ1955)
- René Maran (1887âÂÂ1960)
- Georges Bernanos (1888âÂÂ1948)
- Adrien Bertrand (1888âÂÂ1917)
- Henri Bosco (1888âÂÂ1976)
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1893âÂÂ1945), author of Gilles and The Fire Within
- Louis Ferdinand Céline (1894âÂÂ1961), author of Journey to the End of the Night and Death on the Installment Plan or Mort àCrédit
- Rose Celli (1895âÂÂ1982)
- Henri de Montherlant (1895âÂÂ1972)
- Jean Giono (1895âÂÂ1970)
Born in or after 1900
- Julien Green (1900âÂÂ1998)
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900âÂÂ1944)
- Nathalie Sarraute (1900âÂÂ1999)
- André Malraux (1901âÂÂ1976)
- Marie-Magdeleine Carbet (1902âÂÂ1996)
- Irène Némirovsky (1903âÂÂ1942), author of Suite française
- Raymond Queneau (1903âÂÂ1976)
- Pierre Herbart (1903âÂÂ1974)
- Marguerite Yourcenar (1903âÂÂ1987)
- Raymond Radiguet (1903âÂÂ1923)
- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905âÂÂ1980), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1964
- Jeanine Delpech (1905âÂÂ1992)
- Louise Aslanian (1906âÂÂ1945), pseudonym "Las", author of "The Way of doubt".
- Paul Gadenne (1907âÂÂ1956)
- Pauline Réage (1907âÂÂ1998)
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908âÂÂ1986)
- Paul Berna (1908âÂÂ1994)
- Alix André (1909âÂÂ2000)
- Jean Genet (1910âÂÂ1986)
- Jean-Louis Baghio'o (1910âÂÂ1994)
- Raphaël Tardon (1911âÂÂ1967)
- Henri Troyat (1911âÂÂ2007)
- Pierre Boulle (1912âÂÂ1994), author of The Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes
- Albert Camus (1913âÂÂ1960), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1957
- Gilbert Cesbron (1913âÂÂ1979)
- Albert Cossery (1913âÂÂ2008)
- Claude Simon (1913âÂÂ2005), Nobel Prize in Literature, 1985
- Romain Gary (1914âÂÂ1980), winner of the Goncourt prize twice, 1956, and 1975 under the pseudonym of Emile Ajar
- Marguerite Duras (1914âÂÂ1996)
- Joseph Zobel (1915âÂÂ2006)
- Maurice Druon (1918âÂÂ2009)
- Boris Vian (1920âÂÂ1959)
- Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922âÂÂ2008)
- Salvat Etchart (1924âÂÂ1985)
- Michel Tournier (1924âÂÂ2016)
- Philippe Daudy (1925âÂÂ1994)
- Michel Butor (1926âÂÂ2016)
- ÃÂdouard Glissant (1928âÂÂ2011)
- André Schwarz-Bart (1928âÂÂ2006)
- Sébastien Japrisot (1931âÂÂ2003)
- Emmanuelle Arsan (1932âÂÂ2005)
- Jean Bernabé (1942âÂÂ2017)
- Régine Deforges (1935âÂÂ2014)
- Françoise Sagan (1935âÂÂ2004)
- Georges Perec (1936âÂÂ1982)
- Maryse Condé (1934âÂÂ2024)
- J.M.G. Le Clézio (born 1940), Nobel Prize in Literature, 2008
- Annie Ernaux (born 1940), Nobel Prize in Literature, 2022
- Marie-Reine de Jaham (born 1940)
- Patrick Modiano (born 1945), Nobel Prize in Literature, 2014
- Daniel Maximin (born 1947)
- Raphaël Confiant (born 1951)
- Carole Achache (1952âÂÂ2016)
- Kama Sywor Kamanda (born 1952)
- Patrick Chamoiseau (born 1953)
- Nancy Huston (born 1953)
- Frederic Monneyron (born 1954)
- Gisèle Pineau (born 1956)
- Fred Vargas (born 1957)
- Michel Houellebecq (born 1958), Impact award winner
- Itxaro Borda (born 1959), Euskadi prize winner
- ÃÂric-Emmanuel Schmitt (born 1960)
- Charles Dantzig (born 1961)
- Pavel Hak (born 1962)
- Marie-Hélène Lafon (born 1962), winner of the Goncourt prize, 2016
- Beatrice Hammer (born 1963)
- Nadine Ribault (1964âÂÂ2021)
- Sedef Ecer (born 1965)
- Jeanne-A Debats (born 1965)
- Basile Panurgias (born 1967)
- Fabienne Kanor (born 1970)
- Laurent Binet (born 1972)
- Maëlle Guillaud (born 1974)
- Tristan Garcia (born 1981)
- ÃÂdouard Louis (born 1992)
See also
References