Novel Presents: An Evening with Mary Fleming

When recent college graduate Lily Owens enrolls in the Civilisation Française course at the Sorbonne in 1982, she hopes to put a troubled childhood behind her and find direction for adulthood. She moves into a mansion on the place des Vosges where her job is helping elderly, half-blind Amenia Quinon, another ex-pat American. Amenia is haunted by memories of World War II, as is her Jewish housekeeper, Germaine. The three women live alone in this house of silence and secrets, until Lily surreptitiously lets a love interest move into the empty wing. When Thibaud is joined by others, the abandoned part of the house quickly turns into a squat, upending the lives of the three women, but ultimately bringing them closer together.