The Education of Francine Robinsworth Duchesney a Summer Abroad — Peggy Kopman-Owens

An Early History of Paris Sleuths Extraordinaire. On an old borrowed map hidden under her bed, Francine had scribbled in bright blue crayon "the other side of the world." Born with an exceptional curiosity in a small town jam-packed with well-preserved century-old mysteries, where indiscretions lined cellars and attics like jars of last year's apricots, 17-year old Francine found no lie was so well constructed, no secret so well kept, no treasure so deeply buried... that she could not discover it. So when an unexpected opportunity to go away for the summer came along, her neighbors were relieved to see her go. The question on everyone's mind was "Would she return?" "Whatever the unknown in Europe," she told her parents at supper, "it has to be better than the known in a small town, where truth is hidden behind smiles, pleasantries, and an over abundance of stretch lace at weddings. Whatever the truth is about my own life, it's waiting somewhere else on a blank page in a place where people make no attempt to predict the future based upon a person's past."A Summer Abroad will teach Francine how easily a young woman's expectations can entangle her heart in the lives of three men. One will ask her to stay a while. Another will ask to her to stay "forever." A third will become a lifelong mystery. Print edition and eBook available. (All Rights Reserved) 30 January 2016 © Peggy Kopman-Owens (Cover Art © Roger Kopman)