The first part, "A Storm in June", opens in the chaos of the massive 1940 exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion during which several families and individuals are thrown together under circumstances beyond their control. They share nothing but the harsh demands of survival - some trying to maintain lives of privilege, others struggling simply to preserve their lives - but soon, all together, they will be forced to face the awful exigencies...

At the age of 19, fluent-French-speaking Briton Marian Sutro is recruited for service in the Special Operations Executive during World War II, only to find that another secret organization wants her to infiltrate Paris to persuade a research physicist to join the Allied war effort.

"When Danielle Marton's father is killed during the early days of the German Occupation, her mother sends her to live in a quiet farming town near Limoges in Vichy France. Now called Marie-Jeanne Chantier, Danielle struggles to balance the truth of what's happened to her family and her country with the lies she must tell to keep herself safe. At first, she's bitter about being left behind by her mother, and horrified at having to milk the cow and...

"Anne Berest's The Postcard is among the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years. Luminous and gripping to the very last page, it is an enthralling investigation into family secrets, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life. January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front,...

"An epic love story and family drama set at the dawn of World War II"--Provided by publisher. "Viann and Isabelle have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle's father sends Isabelle to help her older sister...

"Occupied Paris, 1942. Just before he dies, a man chased by the Gestapo hands off a strange-looking document to the unsuspecting novelist Paul Ricard. It looks like a blueprint of a part for a military weapon, one that might have important information for the Allied forces. Ricard realizes he must try to get it into the hands of members of the resistance network. As Ricard finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into anti-Natzi efforts, and into increasingly...

"I've loved every one of Susanna's books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly's delicate touch with characters—sure recipe for historical fiction that sucks you in and won't let go!"—DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander

In an intricate balance of past and present, Susanna Kearsley offers a story of French historical fiction full of breathless suspense, Gothic romance, and priceless

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In 1937, Lisette Roux and her husband, André move from Paris to Provence to care for André's grandfather, Pascal. Pascal was a pigment salesman and frame maker, and a friend of Pissarro and Cézanne who traded frames for paintings. When war breaks out, André hides Pascal's art collection to keep the paintings out of the Nazi's reach before he himself goes off to the front. Then, as the Germans come closer and set up the Vichy government, Lisette...

From the bestselling author of "Chocolat" comes a sensual literary concoction of tragedy, secrets, and the relationship between a daughter and her mother. Returning to the small Loire village of her childhood to run a cafe, Franboise Dartigen soon finds that hidden among her mother's recipes are clues that will lead her to the truth of long ago.