Tolstoy was probably right when he said that unhappy families were unhappy in different ways, while happy ones were happy in the same way; yet truly happy families have become so rare that today they have the appearance of individuality.

It may be that the social conditions in a provincial town in France are, by virtue of their solidity and their slightly old-fashioned rigidity, conducive to familial happiness. Even given these circumstances, the family of Pic in Valence is singular in the quality of its happiness and closeness.