Linden Malegarde has come home to Paris from the US. It has been years since the whole family was all together. Now, the Malegarde family is gathering for Linden's father Paul's 70th birthday. Each member of the Malegarde family is on edge, holding his or her breath, afraid one wrong move will shatter their delicate harmony. Paul, the quiet patriarch, an internationally renowned arborist obsessed with his trees and little else, has always had an uneasy...

It all began with a simple seaside vacation, a brother and sister recapturing their childhood. Antoine Rey thought he had the perfect surprise for his sister Mélanie's birthday: a weekend by the sea at Noirmoutier Island, where the pair spent many happy childhood summers playing on the beach. It had been too long, Antoine thought, since they'd returned to the island--over thirty years, since their mother died and the family holidays ceased. But the...