Chantal

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Delacorte Press, 1989. Hard Back. Near Fine/Very Good. 6 3/4" x 8 1/2. 465 Pages. Black boards with red quarter-spine. No marks noted on interior text. The painting on the jacket is a portrait of the author by Jean-Gabriel Domergue. Spanning thirty years, two generations, and two continents, Chantal sweeps from a once-grand chateau in Angoulerne to war-torn Paris and finally to the storm-ravaged beaches of Malibu, telling the story of a magnificent woman and a love that defied the cruelties of time. Opening with the desperate escape of a group of political prisoners just as France is invaded by the Nazis, this novel introduces Chantal, a woman of sensibility, spirit, and courage in the tradition of literature's grandest heroines. Young, naive Chantal marries the cold, deeply debauched Count de Blazonac but is secretly in love with his handsome, brooding half brother, Anthenor. Theirs is a love that will be tested time and time again. Surviving the dangers of working with the Resistance, enduring the terrible sacrifices and betrayals of the Occupation, Chantal becomes a model for one of Paris's premier portraitists, Jean-Gabriel Domergue. Married for the second time-to a German Jew trying to leave the persecutions of his past behind, Chantal follows her troubled husband to America, but her heart remains behind with memories of Anthenor. Settled in the chic Malibu Colony, Chantal finds success as an Emmy Award-winning television writer and raises her only child, Maries, to experience the love and fulfillment she herself has so far been denied. Gloriously imagined and stunningly told, Chantal is a tale of home and exile, persecution and survival, and the wondrous triumph of an impossible love neither time nor distance could alter. Hers is a story whose heart will touch the hearts of all who read it. The times and places of this book are real, but the people in it are not, since all the characters in the story are invented except the celebrities and the painter Jean-Gabriel Domergue. The author expresses her respect and admiration for the late Jean-Gabriel Domergue. The author was born in France and was educated both at the University of Bordeaux and at the University of California. Contents in Five Chapters: Angouleme 1940, San Sebastian Spain 1940, Paris 1945, Texas 1946, California 1967. Plus Prologue and Epilogue.