Three novels, three unforgettable experiences…
When you trust your enemy more than your family
June 1940. A village in northern France awaits the arrival of a garrison of conquering Germans.
To their dismay, 16-year-old Pierre and his parents are forced to accommodate a German major. He is the enemy within their midst and, more pertinently, the unwanted lodger within their home.
The problem, however, is that the German is annoyingly pleasant. The major, with a son of his own, empathises with Pierre in a way his father has never been able to.
But when his father is arrested by the Gestapo, Pierre has to ask where his loyalties lie, and who are his friends and who, exactly, is the enemy.
Desperate to prove himself a man, Pierre is continually thwarted by those he trusts – his parents, the villagers and especially Claire, the girl he so desires.
Pierre’s quest brings to the fore a traumatic event in the family’s past, a tragedy never forgotten but never mentioned.
Can Pierre confront his trauma, and prove himself a man in a country at war?
“She once saved my life. She now wants to destroy it.”
Summer 1942, Nazi-occupied France. A young and frightened resistance fighter sits on a train. Opposite him, a middle-aged woman. During the course of the next hour, this woman will save the young man’s life.
Paris, 1968, that young man is now France’s most famous music conductor, adored and feted wherever he goes. And he’s fallen in love. He is happy.
But he never forgets the woman on the train. So when, unexpectedly, he receives a desperate letter from her, begging him to come to her aid, he gladly offers to return the favour.
But the woman hides a dark and terrible secret, which, if exposed, threatens to destroy them both.
Torn between the woman he loves and the woman who saved his life, France watches as his life and reputation are placed on the line. Why did the Woman on the Train help him all those years ago, and who, exactly, is she?
The memories that haunt you can destroy you.
Time doesn’t always heal. The Second World War finished 23 years before but for some, the memory of it never goes away.
Paris, 1968. Four friends meet once a week in a cafe in the Parisian suburbs. They drink coffee, smoke, play dominoes and talk about everything – except the one thing that binds them all – the war.
But a newspaper article about the arrest of a wartime collaborator opens old wounds. Together, they condemn the man for his actions – but are they any better? Did they behave any more honourably during France’s nightmare years?
One by one, they recount their experiences while living under German occupation. It is time to confess their darkest moments, those moments that define a life.
‘The Darkness We Leave Behind’ is about difficult choices and living with the consequences.
Historical Fiction with Heart and Drama.
