Talk:Taking This One to the Grave/@comment-12829219-20140827132607

So the book Mona was reading has some similarities to Alisons story. Im gonna write the shortest summary i can and tell me what u think?! I know its long but its just a story. I might be looking into it too much but there are similarities if you read.



François, 15 years old, is the narrator of the book. Augustin Meaulnes, 17 years old, arrives at the school. His arrival is going to shake François's calm and lonely life. Meaulnes, breaks the monotony of the school establishment and fascinates the students with his mysterious personality.

A few days before ChristmasMeaulnes disappears and reappears three days later without telling anybody where he has been. As soon as he is back home he draws a map to figure out where his jaunt has taken him. In the weeks that follow, François is perplexed by the behavior of Meaulnes - walking around his room as if he wants to leave again.

At last Meaulnes tells François what happened during the days he was away. He left home Exhausted and having injured his knee,   In the morning he came to a mysterious estate where a party was being prepared. He hid and when awoke two actors invited him to join the masquerade ball. A dinner had been prepared for the engagement of Frantz de Galais, the son of the manor. He learned that Frantz had gone to Bourges to bring back his fiancée, Valentine.

As they danced he discovered a peaceful room where a young woman was playing the piano for some children. He could imagine that this was his home, he was married and that this charming and unknown person playing the piano next to him was his wife... Early the next morning near the lake, Meaulnes saw the young woman from the previous evening and followed her onto a boat. She introduced herself as Miss Yvonne de Galais and requested that he not follow her any longer. Frantz left the manor in despair as Valentine fis fiancee did not appear. Meaulnes when going back to St. Agathe, heard a gunshot and saw the tall Pierrot from the party - Ganache - carrying a body.

Meaulnes and François try unsuccessfully to find the mysterious estate on the map which Meaulnes had drawn upon his return. One night a young gypsy who stole their map  joins their class as a student and quickly becomes its new leader. The gypsy gives the stolen map back to Meaulnes with the missing parts filled in. François, Meaulnes and the gypsy become friends and swear friendship forever and swear to be there when someone calls for them. The gypsy then gives Meaulnes the address in Paris of Yvonne. The gypsy soon pulls aways his bandages/mask revealing his identity to Meaulnes. He is Frantz de Galais, the master of the mysterious estate. The following morning, Frantz leaves just before the police arrive and Meaulnes loses hope of finding the castle. Meaulnes goes to Paris where he hopes to see Yvonne again. Meaulnes sends a letter to Francois saying Yvonne is married.

A year and a half after Meaulnes's departure, François happens to find the address of the mysterious property.His uncle who lives there informs him that Yvonne is, in fact, not married. François meets Yvonne and learns that the young lady has not forgotten Meaulnes either. Uncle Florentin decides to throw a party where Meaulnes, Yvonne and François are to be invited. Before announcing this news to Meaulnes, François visits his Aunt Moinel. She tells him a strange story. One night, last winter, as she was coming back from a party, she came upon a young woman in distress. She brought the young woman to her home and the woman then left for Paris. François does not pay much attention though.

At the party, Meaulnes finally meets Yvonne again. Although happy to see Yvonne he realises nothing will be the same as it was before. Meaulnes falls into a destructive nostalgia. By evening, however, crying, he asks Yvonne to marry him. Meaulnes and Yvonne get engaged and are married.

The day of the wedding Frantz who is in despair because he has not found his fiancée, Valentine reminds Meaulnes of his pledge to come to his aid when he calls. Despite his love for his new bride, Yvonne, Meaulnes decides to leave with Frantz the next day in order to help him find his fiancée.

The following October, Yvonnes gives birth to a girl. She becomes sick, however, and dies  having seen Meaulnes again. François figures out why Meaulnes left. While reading the diary of Meaulnes, he discovers that while searching for Yvonne, Meaulnes met a young woman and seduced her, the young woman was Valentine, Frantz's fiancée. Feeling guilty about his treatment of her, he tried to find Valentine, but she was gone. In order to make amends to Frantz and Valentine, Meaulnes had left Yvonne the day after his marriage and answered Frantz's call for help. He wrote in his diary "I will only return to Yvonne if I manage to bring Frantz and Valentine back to Sablonnières, married".

One year later, Meaulnes does indeed bring Frantz and Valentine back to Sablonnières, married. Taking his daughter, he disappears, leaving François alone. The book ends with François "And I imagine him, in the night, wrapping his daughter in his coat, ready to take her on new adventures".