Le Balcon au Lac

This is the story of Catherine and Jacques; two young people who are not related and live hundreds of miles apart. Their families are linked by a legend passed down both lines for many generations and their paths keep crossing at the most dramatic and traumatic moments of their lives. The novel takes place during the years 1978 to 2005, in various regions of France including Paris, Toulouse, Lyon and the lavender fields around Grasse but it is mainly set in the area that surrounds Lake Annecy in Haute Savoie. In it, Jacques and Catherine describe for themselves how their lives unfold from childhood into their twenties. Jacques and his brother spend their childhood in Eymoutiers near Limoges but eventually Jacques finds work in the area around Annecy. Catherine spends her early years a village close to Lake Annecy but fortune takes her to several different parts of France before she eventually returns to the place of her childhood. Jacques and Catherine both experience several relationships but in spite of them undergoing a number of misadventures and periods of considerable angst, this is basically a feel-good book. It should bring back memories to Francophiles and all those who have been skiing or on holiday in the French Alps.