Cecile leads a hedonistic, frivolous life with her father and his mistresses. On holiday in the South of France, she is seduced by the sun, the sand and her first lover. But when her father decides to remarry, their carefree existence becomes clouded by tragedy. This book introduces readers to love's fascinating possibilities and extremities.

Include the tales Bonjour Tristesse , and A Certain Smile .

Lucile, a sensitive but immature young woman finds herself caught between her carefree, tranquil love for fifty-year-old Charles, a gentle, reflective and well-off banker, and her impetuous passion for thirty-year-old Antoine, a hot-blooded, impulsive and struggling publisher. She goes back and forth but in the end must choose.

The French Riviera: home to the Beautiful People. And none are more beautiful than Cecile, a precocious seventeen-year-old, and her father Raymond, a vivacious libertine. But when Raymond decides to marry, he lets loose in Cecile raw, ungovernable impulses to destroy, with tragic consequences.