The Balcony

What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there before us?

'Sweeping, suspenseful, rich with surprises and eerie atmosphere' Jennifer Egan

'Riveting . . . [the] stories, related in spare but evocative prose, offer fresh looks at human appetites - sex, love, money, art, culture - while exploring the ups and downs of childhood, family, friendship and aging . . . a compelling saga' Daily Mail

To those who have ventured past it over the years, this small estate in a village outside Paris has always seemed calm and poised.

But should you open the gates and enter inside, you will find rooms which have become the silent witnesses to a century of human drama: from the young American au pair who developed a crush on her brilliant employer to the ex-courtesan who shocked the servants, and the Jewish couple who hid from the Gestapo to the housewife who began an affair while renovating the rooms downstairs.

The house has kept its inhabitants secrets for a hundred years. Now, they are ready to be brought to the light. . .

'In lucid prose, the author weaves together deeply involving stories centring on the house, moving back and forth in time, through war and other human catastrophes, rendering a very real France.' Saga

“A delicate fretwork of lives, relationships and secrets . . . Strikingly deft and nuanced; a writer to watch.”

- Kirkus starred review

Jane Delury arrives on the scene of her debut with a sensibility fully formed and a breathtaking array of writerly gifts at her command.

Riveting . . . [the] stories, related in spare but evocative prose, offer fresh looks at human appetites - sex, love, money, art, culture - while exploring the ups and downs of childhood, family, friendship and aging . . . a compelling saga - Daily Mail

The prose is sharp, and the stories are instantly engaging. - People Magazine

The tensions between country-idyll expectations and dispiriting realities course throughout this shimmering debut novel, whose time-hopping narrative depicts the interconnected journeys of the estate's sundry inhabitants from its 19th-century origins to the recent past. - The New York Times

Jane Delury grew up in Sacramento, California and attended UC Santa Cruz. She spent her junior year abroad in Grenoble, France, and she returned to the University of Grenoble after UCSC to complete a master's degree and to teach English. Following several years in France, she moved to Baltimore to study fiction in the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. Her short stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, Five Points, Narrative, and other publications. She has received a PEN/O. Henry Prize, a Pushcart Special Mention, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Story Award, a VCCA fellowship, and grants from the Maryland State Arts Council. She holds a BA in English and French literature from UCSC, a maitrise from the University of Grenoble, and an MA from the Writing Seminars. She is an associate professor of creative writing and English at the University of Baltimore, where she chairs the School of Communications Design.

What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there before us? 'Sweeping, suspenseful, rich with surprises and eerie atmosphere' Jennifer Egan 'Riveting . . . [the] stories, related in spare but evocative prose, offer fresh looks at human appetites - sex, love, money, art, culture - while exploring the ups and downs of childhood, family, friendship and aging . . . a compelling saga' Daily Mail To those who have ventured past it over the years, this small estate in a village outside Paris has always seemed calm and poised. But should you open the gates and enter inside, you will find rooms which have become the silent witnesses to a century of human drama: from the young American au pair who developed a crush on her brilliant employer to the ex-courtesan who shocked the servants, and the Jewish couple who hid from the Gestapo to the housewife who began an affair while renovating the rooms downstairs. The house has kept its inhabitants secrets for a hundred years. Now, they are ready to be brought to the light. . . 'In lucid prose, the author weaves together deeply involving stories centring on the house, moving back and forth in time, through war and other human catastrophes, rendering a very real France.' Saga

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