A great coming-of-age novel set between the old and new worlds. Chad is finally supposed to return home. But when Lambert wants to take him back to Massachusetts, Paris is not the den of iniquity that Americans imagine, but the magnificent city of the Belle Époque. And the enchanting Madame de Vionnet, from whom he is supposed to rescue Chad, has long transformed the average American into a cultured European. Lambert finds himself torn between tradition and modernity, between the power of emotions and the obligations he has taken on. He must wonder if he is leading Chad to disaster by carrying out his mission.