LANGUEDOC & PROVENCE SUN

Born in the South of France, Evelyne studied at Montpellier university before becoming an English teacher. She married an Englishman and moved to Lancashire where, obviously, she taught French.

Twenty years ago, the couple – now equipped with two children – moved back to France. After a return to teaching, Evelyne changed course to become a professional interpreter. She lives in a village near Castries in the Hérault.

Joséphine & Jack is her first published work.

Joséphine & Jack

It is June 1940 and France is collapsing. Like thousands of others, Lisa and her twin children, Joséphine & Jack, are fleeing the German advance. As they cross the Loire at Orléans, the bridge comes under attack. The family is separated: Joséphine staying with her mother while Jack is saved by a fellow refugee. In the chaos on the other side of the river, they fail to find one another again.

The fellow refugee, Billy – who turns out to be an English journalist – takes Jack under his wing. As Lisa and Joséphine make for the south of France, Billy and Jack arrive in wartime Preston, Lancashire. Jack is taken in by Billy’s mill-working parents.

Thus, the twins grow up on opposite sides of the Channel. The one amid terraced houses, fish and chips and all the excitement of the Coronation, the other in a world of vines and post-war recriminations, near Nîmes.

Hope follows despair as they try to find each other again …

The illustrated book is in bi-lingual form – chapters alternating in French and English. It is aimed at adolescents learning one or the other language, but may also be enjoyed by adults – and indeed, those who already master both languages.

Readers can buy the book from any main on-line book sellers or directly from its publisher, www.talentshauts.fr