Burning Secret

This is a brilliant short novel told through the eyes of a young boy, Edgar, who is on holiday with his mother at a resort.  A baron, who is a fellow guest at the hotel takes a fancy to his mother, and befriends Edgar in order to try to seduce her.  Edgar, well used to being dismissed and treated like a child by adults, is flattered that such a distinguished man would take the trouble to make friends and spend time with him as if he were an equal.  He learns a hard lesson when he realizes that the baron had an ulterior motive.  Edgar's mother also learns hard lessons when she weighs her marriage and her obligations to her family against the temptation to carry on an affair with an attractive stranger.