The Fleurville Trilogy

Book excerpt: All three parts of the delightful Fleurville Trilogy in one book. In Sophie's Misfortunes, Sophie is a naughty little girl who delights in disobeying her mother and engaging in mischievous pranks. Why can't she be as well behaved as her cousin Paul and her two sensible friends, Camille and Madeleine? In Camille and Madeleine, Camille and Madeleine are perfect little girls, beautifully behaved and wise beyond their years living with their mother at Chateau Fleurville. Another little girl, Margeurite, and her widowed mother come to stay and Sophie, now orphaned, is 'adopted' into the family. Soon all four girls become firm friends. Through their adventures all four learn steadfast loyalty and how to take responsibility for their actions. In The Holidays, Camille, Madeleine, Marguerite and Sophie are waiting excitedly for their cousins to arrive for the summer holidays. The children fill their days building cabins, having picnics and playing games. Sophie is involved in another misadventure when she hides in a hollowed out tree trunk and cannot climb out! The highlight of the holidays is the unexpected return of Sophie's mother and cousin Paul. They had escaped the shipwreck in which they were thought to have drowned and had made their way to a foreign land. The children are enthralled by the Crusoe-like tales of survival and adventure.