After his divorce and the death of his father, Yann de Kérambrun decides to leave his position as a history professor in Paris and return to Saint-Malo, where he spent the summers of his childhood. Exhausted, he has only one desire: to find the sea again and gaze at it from the house he inherited, overlooking the beach and facing the island of Cézembre.
But soon, Yann becomes intrigued by the vast archives of his family, stored in the old office of his great-grandfather Octave. Irresistibly drawn to these notebooks—true logbooks—he immerses himself in their reading. Octave, who dreamed of mastering the sea by designing new motorized boats, founded the illustrious maritime company Kérambrun & Sons at the beginning of the 20th century. The company contributed to the city’s wealth, and its founder became one of its most prominent figures. Yet, beneath the brilliant image of a great industrial captain, another side of Octave quickly emerges: the visionary and ingenious entrepreneur was also a troubled father and husband, a man who endured tragedies, whose doubts and wounds seem to mirror those of his great-grandson. Why? What pains, what secrets do Octave’s notebooks conceal?
As he delves into the life of his ancestor, Yann attempts to uncover the cracks that fracture the family’s carefully crafted legend. In doing so, he also discovers the turbulent history of Cézembre, a tiny island of strategic importance facing the city. By shedding light on the past and taming the maritime elements, the solitary Yann de Kérambrun may finally soothe his present and perhaps allow himself to experience the emotions he had been fleeing.
Through breathtaking pages that paint vivid portraits of Brittany’s mesmerizing yet haunting coastline, this stunning saga tells the story of a Saint-Malo family whose fortune—and misfortune—was shaped by the sea.
