The epic third novel in the 'Glorious Years' series

'A novelist at the height of his powers' La Croix

April, 1959 and the heads of the Pelletier family, Louis and Angèle have retired to the countryside, taking their ten-year-old granddaughter Colette, who is having to grow up much faster than she should.

In Paris, Francois is working for his newspaper, digging out dark political stories; Hélène produces a night-time radio phone-in show, and Jean and Genevieve continue their curious version of marriage, while still aspiring to inveigle themselves into the upper echelons of the French business world. Then Francois is persuaded to join a trip to Prague - a visit that, in any circumstances, could be precarious in the volatile mood of the Cold War, and proves to be very dangerous indeed, both for him personally, and for the French government itself.

In this epic, third novel of the Glorious Years series, each Pelletier is forced to choose between their own self-interest and a need for duty in its different guises, and some, between the desires of the heart, and matters of state.


'You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with. And it is exactly those great 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of' Sunday Times