{"product_id":"2940171748623","title":"The Valentine House","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, 14-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the 'uglies' amp;mdash; village girls employed as servants and picked, it is believed, to ensure they don't catch Sir Anthony's roving eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Mathilde it is the start of a lifelong entanglement with les anglais amp;mdash; strange, exciting people far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear, with a curiously absent daughter no one talks about. It will be decades amp;mdash; disrupted by war, accidents and a cruel betrayal amp;mdash; before Mathilde discovers the key to the mystery. And in 1976, the year Sir Anthony's great-great-grandson comes to visit, she must decide whether to use it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVividly evoking the dramatic landscape that so enthrals the Valentines, this deeply involving, intriguing novel tells the story of an English family through the generations and a memorable French woman, whose lives seem worlds apart yet which become inextricably connected.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"W. F. Howes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47105713963248,"sku":"2940171748623","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940171748623_p0.jpg?v=1763743730","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940171748623","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}