Michel Déon, born in 1919 (as is the hero of this book), is an acclaimed and well known author in his native France but little known here, and Gallic Books are to be applauded for yet again bringing an excellent French writer to a new readership. The Foundling Boy was first published in 1975 and is the coming-of-age story of Jean Arnaud, a foundling who is discovered late one night on the doorstep of Albert and Jeanne Arnaud, servants to the aristocratic Les Courseau family. Childless, the couple are overjoyed to adopt Jean, and his spends his childhood equally with them and their employers, who also accept him almost as one of their own. His character is thus shaped by the disparate people around him and he sometimes finds it difficult to find his own place in life. Torn between the simple ways of his adoptive parents and the upper class mores of the big house, he sets off on a series of adventures across France and Europe, meeting a varied cast of characters on the way and having many adventures.
Well-plotted, amusing, with the occasional knowing aside to the reader, this is an absorbing and very entertaining read. Slow-paced, but with plenty of action, it is never dull and always keeps the reader interested in the vicissitudes of Jean’s adventures. The novel is, however, not without its faults. There are perhaps too many sub-plots and some of the minor characters verge on caricature, but as a Bildungsroman it is successful on many levels, not least in being the portrait not only of a young man growing up but also of France itself from 1919 to the outbreak of WWII, and the novel gives an accurate and atmospheric insight into French life, customs, attitudes and history. Jean’s peregrinations take place alongside important political and public developments, and although we leave him as he’s about to begin life as a soldier, we can read about what happens next in the equally enjoyable sequel.
An excellent and recommended read for anyone interested in inter-war France, plus those who enjoy family sagas, this is a charming and enjoyable novel and one I am very glad to have discovered.

My review, as posted on Goodreads:

I liked this book a lot. It creates a real sense of the time and the places. The central character is Jean Arnaud. The central theme of the story is his constant search for the truth about his parentage during the first two decades of his life.

This is a sensitively written family saga which charts Jean's childhood and start of his adulthood. I enjoyed the superb humour which punctuates book throughout. This coupled with the pithy comments from the narrators view of the importance or otherwise of characters as they arise, makes this a very enjoyable read.

I will avoid detailing details of the plethora of characters in the story as there are some excellent review already posted.

I will certainly be reading 'The Foundling's War' which is the sequel to this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Gallic books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jean Arnaud is the foundling boy, found in a basket one summer night in 1919 on the doorstep of Albert and Jeanne Arnaud. Albert is the gardener for the aristocratic Antoine du Courseau and his family and Jean grows up happily on this estate in Normandy alongside the du Courseau's younger children, Michel who taunts him and Antoinette who adores him.

This is the coming of age story of a naive young man who yearns to escape his narrow provincial world for the adventures the outside world can offer. This period between the wars in France is presented as a simpler time when people still believed in their place in the world and were blinkered to the coming of another war that would shake the very foundations of their society. This is epitomised by Antoine du Courseau who, despite watching his family fortunes dwindle and his estate fall into decline, buys the very latest Bugati every year and amuses himself taking trips to the south of France where he has established a whole other life for himself. He is a very charming and engaging character and it's difficult not to cheer him on despite his indifference to his family.

The story of Jean's adventures as he reaches adolescence and seeks his place in the world is told with wry humour and wit. Jean falls in with many strange characters who become his friend including some who seek to use him, but somehow he remains unscathed bumbling his way through any setbacks. Finding out his parentage becomes a fixation with him as he heads towards his 20s and another war looks likely, although it is no great surprise to the reader when it is revealed. Jean's story ends in this book with the onset of WWII and will continue in the sequel (Foundling at War).

The translation from the original French is excellent and the writing has a wonderful flow and a hint of wryness that must have existed in the original. The wonderful descriptions of the unspoilt countryside, the local people and provincial restaurants give an almost idyllic picture of rural France in the time before WWII, industrialisation and mass tourism.

Richly worded with a funny narrator, but I'm not sure the story was for me.