A "breathtaking" century-spanning portrait of the inhabitants of a
French village (Jennifer Egan), revealing the deception, despair, love,
and longing beneath the calm surface of ordinary lives.
What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there
before us? Set in a small village near Paris, The Balcony follows the
inhabitants of a single estate-including a manor and a servants'
cottage-over the course of several generations, from the Belle vâpoque
to the present day, introducing us to a fascinating cast of characters.
A young American au pair develops a crush on her brilliant employer. An
ex-courtesan shocks the servants, a Jewish couple in hiding from the
Gestapo attract the curiosity of the neighbors, and a housewife begins
an affair while renovating her downstairs. Rich and poor, young and old,
powerful and persecuted, all of these people are seeking something:
meaning, love, a new beginning, or merely survival.
Throughout, cross-generational connections and troubled legacies haunt
the same spaces, so that the rose garden, the forest pond, and the
balcony off the manor's third floor bedroom become silent witnesses to a
century of human drama.
In her debut, Jane Delury writes with masterful economy and profound
wisdom about growing up, growing old, marriage, infidelity, motherhood -
in other words, about life - weaving a gorgeous tapestry of
relationships, life-altering choices, and fleeting moments across the
frame of the twentieth century. A sumptuous narrative of place that
burrows deep into individual lives to reveal hidden regrets,
resentments, and desires, The Balcony is brimming with compassion,
natural beauty, and unmistakable humanity.
