About the author: Henri Troyat is the pseudonym of Lev Tarasov, a famous French writer born in Moscow. Troyat gained fame not only in France but around the world, was awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt, and became a member of the French Academy. His bibliography is extensive: historical novels, novellas, short stories, essays, biographies, including those of Guy de Maupassant, Émile Zola, and Honoré de Balzac. Russian writers held a special place in the heart and work of the author, whose books endlessly inspired him — Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Gogol, Anton Chekhov. Perhaps the most famous work of Henri Troyat is the trilogy about the Egletiers, which has long become a classic but still evokes unwavering interest from readers. Annotation Tolstoy once noted that happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. The story of the Egletiers family is a confirmation of this. These people seem prosperous only at first glance. The head of the family, Philippe Egletier, is a true master of life, always confident in his own rightness. He has everything one could dream of: a luxurious house, a successful career, a large family, and a beautiful young wife. But does he know what his household members truly live for? Does he suspect that his youngest son, Daniel, dreams of exploring Africa, and that his daughter, Françoise, is experiencing a serious first love? And, most importantly, does he understand what weighs on the heart of Karole, his young and beautiful wife, and who his firstborn and heir, Jean-Marc, is so passionately infatuated with? This is a book about relationships between people, about how challenging it is to build and maintain them, and about the colossal influence family has on all our lives.
