Au plaisir de Dieu

Synopsis of Au plaisir de Dieu

In 'Au plaisir de Dieu', Jean d'Ormesson narrates the story of a French aristocratic family throughout the 20th century, from the Crusades to the present day. Through the narrator's memory, grandson of the patriarch, the social, political, and cultural transformations that erode the foundations of family tradition are explored. The story focuses on the castle of Plessis-lez-Vaudreuil, a symbol of lineage, and how marriages, subversive ideas, and changes in customs weaken the fortress of tradition. The work reflects on the decline of a social class and the loss of a world.