Release date is 2026-02-17

Laurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)

"Les dieux de la tribu" by Émile Zavie is a novel written in the early 20th century. It blends romantic and political intrigue: a shy French academic, Pierre Caussanges, crosses paths with the cosmopolitan Ozilie de Wicheslaw, whose ties to a displaced court and a mysterious Prince Evgueny pull the story from provincial France toward clandestine affairs and journalism-fueled intrigue.

The opening of the novel frames itself with a playful “conversation with the author,” then pivots to the plot when Caussanges finds a lost letter on a roadside near Chamarges and meets its likely owner, Ozilie. They share a charged train journey, during which she hints at an exile’s life between Kabardie and Thorenberg, while he reveals his modest past and recent inheritance; in Paris she brusquely dismisses him. Seeking counsel, he shows the letter to the journalist Lonlay-Labbaye, who reveals hidden writing (brought out by heat) that points to a secret involving Prince Evgueny and Neu‑Thorenberg; he departs to chase the story. Against advice, Caussanges returns the letter; Ozilie realizes it was decoded, burns all traces, and prepares to flee—only to receive a terse summons to meet an envoy of the Prince at the Tuileries. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Paris: Gallimard, 1929