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Toilers of the Sea · Chapter

Dedication explained

Victor Hugo dedicates the book to the island of Guernsey, praising it as a rock of hospitality and liberty, a refuge for him, and possibly his final resting place.

What happens

Victor Hugo dedicates the book to the island of Guernsey, praising it as a rock of hospitality and liberty, a refuge for him, and possibly his final resting place.

Key passages

  • I Dedicate this Book to the rock of hospitality and liberty to that portion of old Norman ground inhabited by the noble little nation of the sea to the island of Guernsey severe yet kind, my present asylum perhaps my tomb.

    Victor Hugo dedicates this book to the island of Guernsey, a place of refuge and freedom, which he calls a rock of hospitality and liberty, and which may be where he is buried.

    The dedication expresses Hugo's gratitude and deep connection to Guernsey as his asylum during exile.