Mrs Ridgeway has sold her book and Mr Ridgeway has a sabbatical from teaching history at the university – so of course they have brought Susan (13), George (11) and Dumpling (7) to France for a year. Or, until the money runs out.

As far as the desperately homesick Dumpling is concerned, the money can’t run out too fast, especially after she drops her cherished doll Irene down a oubliette. Susan and George are quite happy living in a decrepit old hotel in Cannes with high ceilings, an enormous bathtub, and an over-run garden, at least until their parents hire Mlle Beauregard to be their governess. It’s unfortunate for the mademoiselle that she learns far more Midwest American slang than the children do French.

This is even more unfortunate for the children, because from Cannes the Ridgeways go on to Paris, where Mr Ridgeway can do his research, and the three Ridgeway children are put in a French school (and in the very bottom class with the five year olds).

As the year passes, and the Ridgeways find ways to create a little bit of of American Halloween and Christmas, even Dumpling begins to be at peace with living in such a strange place, so far from home