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"Le Guepiot" is the nickname given to the little female heroine in this autobiographical account of author Viviane Villamont's stark and harrowing early childhood. As a little tomboy, she was miserably treated by an uncaring, sharp-tongued mother and worshipped by a doting father. How the parents ever got together is a mystery, and their divorce was inevitable. After the split, the court inexplicably awards custody to the mother who is not very tolerant of small children and sends Viviane off to a boarding school of sorts, unfortunately run by mean-spirited nuns unable to countenance the gaps in Viviane's basic religious education. Viviane's harsh existence might get a reprieve, however, as the acrimonious court battle over her custody is about to come to judgment.