Le Général Dourakine
1867
General Dourakine is not a man to be contradicted. Stout, red-faced, and thundering with impatience, he rules his Russian estate Gromiline with an iron will and a fearsome temper. Yet when the mischievous Dérigny children Jacques and Paul arrive to travel with him across Europe, something unexpected happens: the old soldier's gruff exterior begins to crack. The children test his patience at every turn, their tricks and rebellions threatening to explode his legendary anger, but somehow his heart keeps getting in the way. As they journey toward Gromiline, an unexpected visit from the general's relations threatens to upend everything, bringing old rivalries and hidden family secrets to light. Countess de Ségur, the beloved nineteenth-century French storyteller often called 'the grandmother of all children's literature,' crafts a tender battle of wills where the real victory isn't about who wins, but about learning that strength and gentleness can coexist in the same heart. This is a story about the transforming power of childhood mischief on a hard man's soul.
