The idea of love - Louise Dean

Richard's life is unravelling: his beautiful wife, Valerie, is having an affair, his son Maxence may (or may not) be mentally disturbed, and the idyllic life he'd hoped for when they moved to Provence has become more nightmare than paradise. Suddenly, a routine trip to Africa to sell pharmaceuticals is more than he can handle and his life starts to implode as he realizes that the idea of a life full of that love he has cherished is a mere illusion.

For Richard and Valerie's neighbour Rachel, a trip to Africa also leads to feelings of confusion and doubt. Now Rachel, and her husband Jeff, as well as Richard and Valerie, are left groping for the things that once defined them. In this bold and tender story, both families find themselves desperately seeking the answer to one question: just what is the idea of love - and can it save them?

But for the children in the story, the awkward unsettling Maxence and angelic little Maud, the idea of love is much simpler...