Shadow of a Man — May Sarton

A Harvard grad student falls in love with an older woman in this beautifully written novel set in Paris

Francis Chabrier is a 26-year-old graduate student still looking for direction when his mother dies. The reverberations of her sudden demise are deeply felt within her family circle and in the lives of her friends. Francis's stepfather, Alan, is devastated -- but Francis only feels angry and adrift. Everyone expects him to marry his childhood friend Ann. Instead, he leaves Boston for Paris, where he spent the first 12 years of his life. Here, in the City of Lights, he hopes to find purpose and meaning -- and Solange Bernard.
 
Solange is an old friend of Francis's mother. As a boy, Francis was captivated by the vivacious French beauty, and now he has traveled to France to see if she is as he remembers. The woman he meets is no longer young, nor is she all that beautiful. But when Francis is with her, the years between them disappear. Soon they are swept into a passionate affair that opens up a world of tantalizing possibility . . . and changes Francis in ways he never imagined.
 
A novel about the journey of self-discovery, Shadow of a Man tells a tender and honest story about first love that will resonate with readers of every age.