{"product_id":"the-balcony-9780316554688","title":"The Balcony","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \"breathtaking\" century-spanning portrait of the inhabitants of a French village (Jennifer Egan), revealing the deception, despair, love, and longing beneath the calm surface of ordinary lives.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there before us? Set in a small village near Paris, \u003ci\u003eThe Balcony\u003c\/i\u003e follows the inhabitants of a single estate-including a manor and a servants' cottage-over the course of several generations, from the Belle vâpoque to the present day, introducing us to a fascinating cast of characters. A young American au pair develops a crush on her brilliant employer. An ex-courtesan shocks the servants, a Jewish couple in hiding from the Gestapo attract the curiosity of the neighbors, and a housewife begins an affair while renovating her downstairs. Rich and poor, young and old, powerful and persecuted, all of these people are seeking something: meaning, love, a new beginning, or merely survival. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Throughout, cross-generational connections and troubled legacies haunt the same spaces, so that the rose garden, the forest pond, and the balcony off the manor's third floor bedroom become silent witnesses to a century of human drama. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In her debut, Jane Delury writes with masterful economy and profound wisdom about growing up, growing old, marriage, infidelity, motherhood - in other words, about life - weaving a gorgeous tapestry of relationships, life-altering choices, and fleeting moments across the frame of the twentieth century. A sumptuous narrative of place that burrows deep into individual lives to reveal hidden regrets, resentments, and desires, \u003ci\u003eThe Balcony\u003c\/i\u003e is brimming with compassion, natural beauty, and unmistakable humanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJane Delury\u003c\/b\u003e's fiction has appeared in \u003ci\u003eNarrative\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Southern Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePrairie Schooner\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Yale Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eGlimmer Train\u003c\/i\u003e. She has received a PEN\/O. Henry Prize, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Story Award, a VCCA fellowship, and grants from the Maryland State Arts Council. She holds an MA in literary studies from the University of Grenoble, France, and an MA in fiction from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. She teaches in the University of Baltimore's MFA in Creative Writing \u0026amp; Publishing Arts program.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Back Bay Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50491685536018,"sku":"9780316554688","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dec10e5e-f072-4f0a-99d6-36d3b97f2973.jpg?v=1730549272","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-balcony-9780316554688","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}