La lune de pierre

Claire, age thirteen, has spent nearly every summer of her life vacationing on the shores of the sparkling blue-green Retz Bay, off the West coast of France. But the summer of 1961 will remain the most unforgettable. A new family moves into an old abandoned house on the cliff overlooking the bay: Pierre de Calais, his British wife Daphné and their two children Jeanne, age thirteen, and Simon, age ten. Pierre and Daphné are quite an eccentric couple and poorly adapted to the demanding job of raising children. Their younger son, Simon, is extremely quiet and introverted and Claire, together with her new friend Jeanne, decide to help Simon by introducing him to a painter named Yves. Working side by side, Yves slowly succeeds in drawing Simon out of his shell but his sudden departure sends Simon spiraling back into deadly silence and, despite his sister's tender affection, appears to be sinking into mental illness. Claire reluctantly must return to Paris. Forty years later, Claire comes across a painting in a gallery that will send her back to that summer and become the starting point for a surprising reunion. Simone Barbaras holds degrees in literature, philosophy and psychology. She is a specialist in consumer/business relations and a communications consultant. Her first novel Une légère absence was published with JC Lattès in 2001. "Featherlike sentences that softly caress, a faltering of adolescence, silent torment..." Gala