Un enfant, t. 1/3

In a modest Parisian apartment on Rue Bourbon‑Villeneuve, a widowed mother struggles to make ends meet for herself and her beautiful eight‑year‑old daughter. The mother, a former officer’s wife, works a government stamp office and takes on odd needle‑work jobs, yet she constantly worries that her limited means will bar her child from the joys of youth—friends, dresses, dances, and a future marriage. Her love is fierce, and she blames herself for the poverty that she fears will imprison her daughter’s happiness.

When a generous relative offers to take the girl to a boarding school in Bordeaux, the mother sees education as the only chance to secure a better life. She parts with her child, believing the sacrifice will bring her daughter the refinement and prospects she cannot provide at home. Letters flow between them, filled with tender longing, as the young girl begins to experience a world far removed from the narrow streets of her childhood.