Cafe Brosse (Paperback, Revised ed.)

George and Seraphine run a cafe in a small French town. Seraphine is fed up with the drudery of her daily life, and feels that George doesn't appreciate her. George seeks solace with his mistress, Yvette, but she too is becoming disgruntled, living in a leaky apartment and longing for a comfortable housewife's existence. George's friend Aramis suggests that the two women should swap lives for a while, so Seraphine duly goes to live in Yvette's apartment and Yvette joins George in the running of the cafe. Unfortunately for George, Yvette is not quite the homemaker that Seraphine was, and soon he is pining for his capable and efficient wife. George's Aunt Marie turns up and mistakes Yvette for Seraphine, whom she has never met. She proceeds to stay for two weeks, criticizing Yvette's housework. Eventually Seraphine returns home and she and Yvette agree that they were both better off as they were. As Aramis points out, maybe it's George who is the real root of their problems.