Its French title is les Vingt ans du jeune homme vert, which means "the twenty years of the green young man".

It is set in occupied Paris during World War II and follows a young man who grew up as an adoptive child and navigates through the social turmoil around him.

An English translation by Julian Evans was published in 2014 through Gallic Books.

[1] Nancy Kline of The New York Times reviewed the book in 2015, and described it as "a sprawling 19th-century-style novel".

Déon’s prolix, cynical novel, ably translated, may amuse some readers.