A la recherche d'une perle

From the moment the train’s carriage doors close behind her, Jeanne Ferval finds herself suspended between memory and an uncertain future. The loss of her beloved grandfather and the lingering echo of her mother’s death press on her young heart, yet she remains a quiet, thoughtful child who shields her sorrow behind a calm exterior. As the landscape rolls past, she clings to the faint image of a white hat on Maryvonne, a solitary beacon in a fog of grief.

Jeanne’s world is a tapestry of tangled family ties: a widowed father who remarries, two half‑sisters, and the faint, exotic legacy of a Caribbean grandmother whose portrait still watches over her. The novel follows Jeanne’s quiet determination to understand the fragments of her past—her grandfather’s poetry, the whispered stories of her ancestors, and the lingering promise of a “pearl” that might restore the sense of belonging she craves. Through tender recollection and gentle humor, the first part of the story sets the stage for a search that is as much about identity as it is about love.