Odilon Thorel
illustrator

Sissi

Aussi libre que le vent

As Free as the Wind
March 1, 2018
Youth Novel
63 pages
230 × 290 mm
9782324020599
978-2-3240-2059-9
Written by Jean Des Cars and Sylvie Baussier, illustrated by Odilon Thorel
																Odilon Thorel, Sissi
																Odilon Thorel, Sissi

Sissi, the story of a rebel empress.

The life of Elisabeth Aurélie Eugénie de Wittelsbach, otherwise known as Sissi, is worthy of a novel heroine. She is the very image of the young woman in love with nature and freedom, still embodied today in the mind of everyone by the resplendent Romi Schneider. But Sissi is also a model of strength and non-conformism.

Married, against all odds, for love to Emperor Franz Joseph, she was Empress of Austria and as such sovereign of an Empire of more than 50 million subjects, composed of some fifteen peoples (Poles, Hungarians, Croats, etc.) in a period of conflict.

She came up against the rigidity of the protocol of the imperial court as well as the animosity of her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who went so far as to deprive her of her children. But in the face of adversity, Sissi raised her head, asserted herself and acquired political influence thanks to her immense popularity, something never seen before for a sovereign!

A lover of travel, she traveled the world for nearly twenty-five years and even had her own car (train). She traveled so much and so fast that the Greeks affectionately nicknamed her “the locomotive empress”.

An atypical life and destiny! And who better than a mischievous wind as a fictional character to narrate and comment on the extraordinary life of this woman, empress and queen, who always aspired to one thing: freedom.

Perrin et Gründ
The author

Odilon Thorel graduated from the School of Architecture of Normandy in 2013. He has worked in various agencies, Rouen and Parisian, while developing illustration under the pseudonym Pedrov.
In 2018 he illustrated his first album, Sissi, aussi libre que le vent, by Sylvie Baussier and Jean des Cars published by Perrin and Gründ. This will be followed by Les saisons et Les renards de Londres written by Eugène Green at the École des loisirs editions in 2019 and 2021.

Bibliography

Les saisons (2019), Les renards de Londres (2021)

March 1, 2018
Youth Novel
63 pages
230 × 290 mm
9782324020599
978-2-3240-2059-9
Written by Jean Des Cars and Sylvie Baussier, illustrated by Odilon Thorel
Perrin et Gründ