Ouest

In rural western France in the mid-nineteenth century, where peasants still serve the local lords out of habit, the elderly lord of the Aubépine family dies and his pale, sickly son inherits the Perrières estate. The new baron dismisses almost everyone and keeps only Lambert, a huge, proud and rough gamekeeper devoted to his dogs, along with his wife Eugénie and the rest of his family, for whom the baron shows some affection. Lambert cannot make sense of his master’s radical politics, his fixation on Victor Hugo or his debauched games with hired women in the château’s corridors, and he slowly realizes that he fears this frail man. As the baron turns manipulative and cruel, the servant must balance obedience against self-respect and his family’s survival. Several voices blend without warning in the telling.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

266 pages in the original

Genres

Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

France, 19th century

First published

2006 by Viviane Hamy

Author's age

46 when first published

ISBN

9782878582352 (original)

More

Wikidata