The Last Estate Book

"Father Leterrier, what will happen to people who stray from the path of Holy Purity?" "They will rot in the fires of Hell. Their flesh will melt, and all of the impurities in their blood will be filtered onto the floor like a carpet of evil dust."

It is the summer of 1920 and Christian Aragon is about to graduate from school. The sixteen year-old covets the body of an older woman-married and a teacher at his school. This not only imperils his mortal soul, but threatens other consequences as well. Surrounded by vineyards and mountains and the relentless heat of the Provencal sun, there is passion, anger, fear, and blood in this tiny village at the foot of the Dentelles. But what prize awaits those who dare defy tradition, and what is the price to be paid for following one's heart?

Publishers Weekly

This trite romance never finds its footing. In 1920 Provence, Christian Aragon dreams of seeing the world, but more often of his geography teacher, Miss Pleyben, whose abusive husband ran away ahead of the draft during WWI. After the death of his older brother, Christian is expected to leave school and work the family vineyard, but he dreads the hours alone with his abusive father. A lucky escape comes in the form of a class trip to Avignon, where Christian and Miss Pleyben become lovers in a cathedral confessional and begin planning to run away together. But when a priest witnesses the two lovebirds kissing, their plans threaten to come undone. Bowman carefully tends to his protagonist's frustration and yearning, only to abandon it altogether for scenes of passion that read like schoolboy fantasy. Each obstacle heaped on the lovers' struggle only makes their already thinly conceived connection less credible, and a powerfully unfortunate turning point involving Miss Pleyben's returned husband effectively kills any emotional connection the reader may have forged. (Aug.)