 Perrine Paindavoine is the daughter of an Anglo-Indian mother, Marie, and a French father, Edmond, who dies in Bosnia at the very beginning of the story.Before dying, Edmond asks his wife and Perrine to return to his hometown, Maraucourt, where Perrine's grandfather, Vulfran, owns a factory and a family mansion.Perrine and her mother run a traveling photo studio in their journey to France.