A Romance of Youth — Complete

'A Romance of Youth' is a novel written by François Coppée. The story begins with a nostalgic recollection of the narrator, Amedee Violette, of a childhood memory on his fifth-floor balcony. He remembers coloring woodcuts with watercolors and listening to a neighbor playing the piano, while looking out at the quiet Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Amedee's mother calls him in for dinner, and his father, a mild and unpretentious man, comes home. They have a simple supper on the balcony and are joined by their neighbor, M. Gerard, and his family. The children chatter through the trellis, and Louise, the elder of the two girls, tells them stories.