Generation and culture gaps bedevil the lives of seven people
seeking love and happiness in a 1950s post-war climate of political
disarray and mutual suspicion enveloping the city of Paris. Hal
Evans, Assistant Principal of the American High School, would say
that they were victims of The Big Lie, a basic insight on life he
conceived as the rebellious son of a Baptist preacher. Hal is
trying to work out his own feelings as he searches for a
Yugoslavian refugee girl named Zizi, once his lover at the time of
the Liberation of Paris. He is certain that she is somewhere in the
city. High School Principal Bill Helmer, Hal's boss, battles to
defend the integrity of a liberal education in a school supported
by a military bureaucracy and to win the love of a French teacher,
Colette Bernard, who appeals to his emotions while ruthlessly
challenging his American ideas about the education of young people.
Colette's former lover Jean Ramuel, psychologist and active
Communist, discovers that she has returned from her year of
teaching in England where she had fled to escape their liaison. He
enters the picture to join the competing interests around this
spirited French woman. Students Tony Mosca and Kay Selner agonize
over what to do about her unexpected pregnancy amidst fears of her
domineering father, an army chaplain, and, during the final
semester of their senior year, their own lack of financial support
in a foreign country. Bill struggles to maintain control of
academic programs in perpetual disagreement with U.S. Army Captain
Michael Murphy, the School Officer, who longs for order and
discipline in a neat school where he is responsible for support
services. He feels obliged to protect thechildren from what he sees
as French political radicalism. As France recovers from the agony
of Nazi control during World War II the Americans are welcomed by
some as liberators and considered by others to be an occupation
force, posting "Americans Go Home" signs throughout Paris.
General
Imprint: |
Authorhouse
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2007 |
First published: |
March 2007 |
Authors: |
Richard Johnston
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - With printed dust jacket / With dust jacket
|
Pages: |
296 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4259-7366-7 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-4259-7366-3 |
Barcode: |
9781425973667 |
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