Title: In the footsteps of Ariane - Françoise Bourdin - book
Summary :
Ariane Nogaro's will has completely turned the life of Anne, her favorite niece, to whom she has bequeathed all her possessions. The family is torn apart, each person gradually revealing their true colors. But Anne will fight to preserve the heritage and perpetuate the memory of her aunt and the Nogaros, great resin collectors from the Landes region. A magnificent woman's destiny.
Winner of the Three Crowns Prize
Finalist for the 2011 La Montagne/Terre de France prize
The sole heir of her aunt Ariane, Anne Nogaro decides, against all odds, to move into the house left to her by her grandmother. She has made her choice; the country house is now hers, and she will do everything she can to realize her dream: to breathe new life into this remote place between forest and ocean, the cradle of the Nogaro family. With the help of her brother Jérôme, Anne gradually transforms the house into a bed and breakfast. But Paul, her husband, does not understand his wife's choice and refuses to come and live in this house he hates. Exasperated, he ends up initiating divorce proceedings. As the days go by, Anne's plan takes shape, and life becomes more organized. The Nogaro country house is bustling with activity, and the young woman, to whom Paul had predicted solitude, sees her family gather around her.
One day, as she resumes reading Ariane's diary, Anne discovers through the lines that she is probably an illegitimate child, the product of an affair her mother may have had in the past. Upset by this discovery, she then understands her mother's fury at the notary's office on the day Ariane's will is opened. Seeing her daughter as the heir to the Nogaro family when she may not be one! What should she do with this secret? Should she question her mother, try to find her real father? Does she have the right to disrupt the unity of her family at the cost of the truth?
