Book excerpt: In nineteenth-century France, Colette lives a life of apparent perfection, one that others would envy. To the casual observer, she has everything any woman could ever desireshe shares a mansion with servants with her handsome, successful husband and their three beautiful children. Hers is a perfect life in perfect orderyet, she longs for more. One day, a chance encounter with a redheaded man awakens something in Collette, and now nothing will ever be the same. There is no room in her life for what is about to happen. She feels trapped and yearns for more. On one hand, she is caught in a web of marital obligations to a man who seems more passionate about numbers and business deals than he is about his wife. On the other, her passionsher deep love for her children and artseem to soften the bitter blow of emotional disappointment. A new breath of life and hope appears when the red-haired man known only as Vincent encourages her to embrace her other artistic talents. Torn between societys expectations and her deep-seated desire for Vincent and all he represents, Colette must make a choice. She has found her passion, no matter how unconventional it may appear. This is a love she cant denybut is she willing to pay the price for that love? Everything that was once perfect is perfect no longer.