Summary

In Chapter 52, Danielle wanders around Drancy waiting for the bus back to Paris. Danielle comes across an art gallery, where she admires the abstract work of Josephine Villeneuves. Josephine had worked in a bakery, and “was the matriarch of a large local family” (306). The woman had died five years ago. Tristan Bazin, the gallery owner, tells her that the Villeneuves family had owned three bakeries in Drancy. Tristan thinks Josephine “must have been born” here, as “not many people came to Drancy from the outside in those days” (307). He makes a call to Josephine’s eldest son Nicolas to inquire about other paintings. Danielle studies the paintings, which “bore a resemblance to 'Turned'” (307).

Nicolas works at a nearby Boulangerie de Villeneuves and “the scent of almonds – pain d’amande … was like a leash pulling [Danielle] straight to the front door” (308). Nicolas explains that...