The Valentine house
Henderson, Emma, 1958-2018
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In June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, 14-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the 'uglies' - village girls employed as servants and picked, it is believed, to ensure they don't catch Sir Anthony's roving eye. For Mathilde it is the start of a life-long entanglement with les anglais - strange, exciting people, far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear, with a curiously absent daughter no one talks about. It will be decades - disrupted by war, accidents and a cruel betrayal - before Mathilde discovers the key to the mystery. And in 1976, the year Sir Anthony's great-great grandson comes to visit, she must decide whether to use it.
Main title:
The Valentine house / Emma Henderson.
Author:
Henderson, Emma, 1958-, author
Imprint:
London : Sceptre, 2018.
Collation:
341 pages ; 20 cm
Notes:
Originally published: 2017.
ISBN:
9781444704044 (pbk)
Dewey class:
823.92FICTION
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2625197