The main character of this novel, published in 1866 by Victor Hugo, is the fisherman Gilliatt, who has fallen in love with the niece of the shipowner Lethierry. His steamship "Durande" has run aground and sunk near the Channel Island of Guernsey. In order to gain Lethierry's consent for marriage, Gilliatt attempts to salvage at least the undamaged engine of the ship. When he finally succeeds after a long struggle with the primal forces of the sea, however, Deruchette has fallen in love with the pastor Ebenezer.