Meeting Cezanne cover

Meeting Cezanne

by Michael Morpurgo

When Yannick learns that he is to stay with his Aunt Mathilde and her family in the South of France, he cannot believe his luck. He has rarely been out of Paris, and if the paintings in his mother's beloved Cezanne book are to be believed, surely Provence is paradise itself. So begins an idyllic month for the young city boy: roaming the gentle hills and rolling valleys of Aix-en-Provence, daydreaming about his beautiful cousin Amandine; helping in his aunt and uncle's bustling village inn in the evenings; feeling that he has come to the most wonderful place in the world. Then one evening the idyll is spoilt when an important local comes for dinner and Yannick accidentally destroys a precious drawing the man leaves behind. He could never have imagined that his mother's hero, the world-famous Cezanne, would come to his inn, and sit at one of his tables! But still Yannick is devastated by what he has done, and resolves to make things right again. However, in so doing he makes a surprising discovery.

More by Michael Morpurgo

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?