A CHRISTMAS TALE

Abel and Junon had two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. Victim of a rare genetic condition, Joseph’s only hope was a bone marrow transplant. As they and Elizabeth were incompatible, his parents conceived a third child in the hope of saving their son. But little Henri too was unable to help his brother, and Joseph died, aged 7. After the birth of a fourth child, Ivan, the Vuillard family gradually began to recover from the death of the firstborn. Years later, Junon learns that she has leukaemia, and that chemotherapy will not work. Her only hope is to find a bone marrow donor amongst the members of her family. Her children and grandchildren are all tested. And Paul, Elizabeth’s son, the oldest of the grandchildren and a tortured adolescent, allows himself to become overwhelmed by anguish. Will Junon accept a dangerous transplant to cure an illness that may never develop further? Will Paul’s father Claude allow his son to become his grandmother’s donor, and thus risk the responsibility for her death? As for Elizabeth and Henri, what can be done when a dispute moves beyond all reason?