The fourth volume of Dirk’s memoirs in which he retraces the patterns of pain and happiness that shaped his life, from childhood to adulthood in Provence. Dirk here focuses not on his profession but on his character, as it developed and evolved through the years, and the marvellous cross-section of people who formed the ‘backcloth’ to his life. A vivid, eloquent and deeply felt evocation of a past remembered, embraced and, temporarily, laid to rest.