Hector Malot (French: Hector Malot) was a French novelist born on May 20, 1830, in La Bouille, near Rouen, and died on July 17, 1907. He studied law in Rouen and Paris, but ultimately dedicated his life to literature, which became his passion. He worked as a drama critic for the newspaper L’Opinion Français and as a literary critic for L’Opinion Nationale. His first book, Les Amants (The Lovers), was published in 1859. Malot authored more than 73 books. His most famous work to date is Nobody’s Boy (1878), which tells the story of an orphaned boy named Rémi who travels from place to place searching for his parents. When he was ten years old, he was bought by a musician named Vitalis, who earned his living playing the flute in the streets and squares. Sans Famille gained considerable popularity as a children’s book, although its author did not initially intend it to be so. In 1895, Marlot announced his retirement from writing fiction, but in 1896 he returned with L’amour Dominateur, as well as his great novel Les Romanes mes Romans (The Novel of My Novels), a comprehensive account of his prolific literary career.