Flame in the Night: A Novel of World War II France
Teenagers face challenges that no one should experience in Vichy France, 1942. Julian is the son of the assistant pastor of a pacifist philosophy Christian church. Benjamin is his friend, whose life is now in danger because he is Jewish. Elisa is abruptly put in charge of her siblings when her parents are deported. Together they strive to survive and help others to hide or escape into nearby Switzerland. A budding and impossible romance ensues between Julian and Elisa. Julian’s father is detained; his mother has a psychotic episode as a result of the stress. There is an informer in the town, and so are German soldiers convalescing from war wounds. When Elisa saves one of them from drowning, she wonders if her act will condemn some of her own people. When she is deported, Julian leans on the German soldier for help, a move that takes him into the heart of the Nazi machine.
Dense, atmospheric, and sometimes too convoluted in style for its own good, this beautifully rendered novel delves into both border life during World War II, and the moral and philosophic conflicts good people of faith confronted in those tumultuous times.
