Publisher's Synopsis
In the summer of 1914, Michael Davies, a young student, joins his friend Richard on a visit to the home of Richard's family friend, Madame de Vallespir, in Banyuls sur Mer in the shadow of the Pyrenees. During the idyllic weeks of the last summer of peace, Michael meets and falls in love with Lisette Le Clerc, a friend of the de Vallespirs. Their relationship is symbolised by a portrait of Michael which Lisette paints and gives him as a parting present. As Europe moves inexorably to war, Michael is forced to return to England and joins up to fight for King and Country. Like so many of his generation, the horror of the trenches steals away for Michael the optimism and innocence of youth. Memories of the lost summer of 1914 turn to bleak winter.
