When Elinor moves to France with her husband and two children, she never expects to fall in love with the beautiful Frenchwoman whose children attend the same school as hers. Although from the very beginning, Elinor is prepared to be as enchanted by the French as she is by the delicious culture, food and wine, Cherbourg is nothing like Provence, or Paris. It is unfortunately a rather dreary industrial city-La Ville Noire. The town is bleak, the people are dull and even the vineyards are blighted. There seems to be little to discover until she meets the enchanting Frenchwoman. The mysterious Frenchwoman seems to unite everything so elusive and lovely that Elinor admires about France and the French themselves, by being exasperatingly aloof and indifferent that she doesn't know whether to hate her, or fall in love. Within this fascinating friendship, Elinor confronts a startling new independence that upsets all her conventional ideas of love, life and desire. "Highly recommended for its unique perspective on intimacy and passion, as well as love in its most pure and true state." -Midwest Book Review