A moving and haunting love story, and true to life account of Rupert and Jacquie over a ten year period. The story covers their battle to survive while rebuilding an ancient Romaine Chapel in the southern Pyrenees. Devotedly they turn the chapel into the paradise they so longed it to be, grow strong and eventually have children. The dream should have been complete but after suffering from depression Jacquie suddenly disappears, leaving Rupert in a whirlpool of darkness, accusation and confusion. The search for Jacquie against a backdrop of family betrayals and tensions amid a police investigation takes one to the edge with Rupert. Above all this story is an observation of a relationship on fire, of love under duress. And like a stone falling in a calm pool the tragic effect of mental illness reaches out; no one is left untouched.
Rupert Bogarde's memoir is poignant, touching and at times very funny. He writes with wit and affection of his life in the tiny community near Perpignan and with great honesty about the breakdown of his marriage and the ultimate tragedy of his wife's disappearance.