The Pleasing Hour

A New York Times Notable Book

Young, inexperienced and fleeing a terrible personal loss, Rosie travels to France to become an au pair to the Tivot family. Nicole, the cool, distant and beautifully polished mother of the three children she cares for is impossible to connect with - there is something about the woman that both fascinates and unnerves Rosie.

The same is true of the rest of the Tivot clan. Nicole's husband, Marc, and their children all seem to be caught in an unending struggle against each other for love and acceptance. Only when Rosie is sent to care for Nicole's now-elderly guardian - the storyteller of the family's secrets - does she finally discover the truth. There, Rosie will learn of a past darkened by war, duplicity and a tragedy that still resonates in the Tivot's lives.

The Pleasing Hour, Lily King's debut novel, is a story of family, betrayal and the naivety of youth.