Come What May

«We do not choose, we simply walk the designated path and always achieve what we are».
Perhaps Irene and Georges did not know what they were, — their love came together on its own in a Paris suburb, inspired by the... image of Rudolph Valentino and the atmosphere of French silent cinema, on the sets of which they both worked: he as a carpenter, she as a seamstress. But from her work grew a complicated friendship with two wealthy residents of Saint-Mor, and all three friends almost simultaneously gave birth to children, and the destinies of the four children of the three friends forever entwined in the tapestry of France's history. Arlène dreamed of becoming an engineer — at a time when a woman engineer was unthinkable and everyone she shared her plans with felt it was their duty to inform her about it. Daniel dreamed of a military career. The twins Marie and Thomas, an artist and a poet, wanted to pursue art. Their dreams were fulfilled one way or another — and even death did not part any of them from their dreams, however, it separated them from each other for many years...
For his debut novel «The Club of Irremediable Optimists» French writer and screenwriter Jean-Michel Guenassia won the Goncourt Prize in 2009. «Come What May» — is his new epic, a grand saga against the backdrop of the turbulent history of France from the 1920s to the 1960s. This text shines dazzlingly — war, love, reckless faith, eternal hatred, regrets and self-deception, disasters and missed opportunities, hopes and rebirth. And although for all the heroes the path is set, the choice remains with them.