Gilded youths on the Mediterranean coast in the carefree late 1950s. An authentic portrait of the era (its landscapes, automobiles, popular songs, scents and more), a peaceful and prosperous time, when there seemed to be no threats looming.

But there is one more character: our sun, an average-sized star that people started trying to protect themselves from right around then, with creams that made life fragrant. But it affects lives in more ways than just ultraviolet rays. Indirectly, it makes a car deviate from its trajectory – which leads to a whirl of vicissitudes and encounters, and to an unexpected life for our hero (Joël), who, shaken out of his apathy, finds love and its attendant pain (Liliane).

As summer draws to a close and the sun grows less intense, the tale’s light-hearted atmosphere will grow harsher. The Algerian War is on the horizon, and a dramatic event will soon permanently tarnish these youths’ gilded lifestyle. It can’t all be blamed on the drowning of a mysterious young woman (Evelyne) or the collapse of a famous dam near Fréjus. It’s the turning of the wheel of fortune, the passage of time that winds up leaving a mark on bodies, separating the golden twins (Gilles and Liliane) and turning yesterday’s social butterflies into today’s cracked porcelain figures.

Joël will owe his successful career to the events of that summer, paying for them with a wound that will never heal – or at least not until his death, when, as the poet jean Tardieu said, he will become one with the great sun.

The 1950s. A sun-drenched Mediterranean summer. Gilded youth. From lightheartedness to encounters and wounds. A very accomplished debut novel, reminiscent of Bonjour tristesse.