"An American family summering in an unexpectedly traffic-choked and commercialized Provence discover a cache of pagan gold and set in motion a comic adventure of mistaken identity and misplaced ambition.".

"Vivian Hart, dismissed from her job lecturing on sex-in-art at a New Jersey community college, is badly in need of a kick start to her career, and wants to be a famous eco-feminist art critic. Her husband Richard yearns to purge his photographs of the curse of prettiness. Their golden opportunity arrives in the form of a classified ad, "Ideal sabbatical retreat in the south of France..."".

"Reality intrudes on their dream of rusticity when they arrive to find their ancient stone farmhouse is the only remnant of a village bulldozed long ago to make way for the superhighway just outside their door.".

"For their children, Justin and Lily, the summer is a nightmare of boredom and neglect. There's really nothing at all to do but dredge some funny-looking old jewelry from the muck at the bottom of a nearby pond and sell it to their new friend, Marcel. When the artifacts begin turning up at roadside flea markets the expatriate art community scrambles to track down its source."--BOOK JACKET.