The reader is invited to discover the tribulations of Sergeant Major Louis Batissard, the son of Alexandrine, who is the heroine of the prequel "Ancestral Silk". Saved from the fire by Blanche, a collection of over 200 letters written to his beloved parents and his sister Cecile, will draw you into his daily life and invite you to share his emotions in the defence of France during the Great War. Blanche wrote: "He is here, close to me, plunged into a dream where all is spoken in the present tense, I believe he is coming to see me. . . The cruellest part of this dialogue with the departed, with no more witnesses, no more answers, only nostalgia and sadness is left in our heart." Word for word, line by line we follow Louis' ordeal which has only just begun, an ordeal which for him will last nearly four years.