Many famous French novels were written in the 19th century by author such as Victor Hugo , Alexandre Dumas and Jules Verne . They wrote popular novels like The Three Musketeers , The Count of Monte-Cristo , Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . The 19th century saw the writings of French authors : Victor Hugo ( Les MisÃ rables ) , Alexandre Dumas ( The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo ) , and Jules Verne ( Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea ) , which are amongst the most well-known in France and the world .