Final Transgression: One Woman's Tragic Destiny in War-torn France - Paperback

by Harriet Welty Rochefort (Author)

Spring 1944: Betrayed by her collaborationist husband, S verine Sevanot travels from Paris to her beloved hometown in southwest France. S verine's friends and family have urged her not to go: the region is a tinderbox where the French are fighting not only the Nazis, but their own countrymen who support the pro-German Vichy regime. S verine ignores the advice. She always does exactly what she wants. Summer 1994: To mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day, an American reporter interviews 85-year-old Caroline Aubry, S verine's sister. Caroline tells of fleeing the Germans by taking to the road in May 1940, then returning to a Paris that has been overrun by Germans flirting with young French girls, playing oom-pah band music in the parks, and imposing strict rationing on the city while keeping the best food and wine for themselves. What Caroline omits is a story she has never revealed, even to her son F lix. Now, though, unsettled by the interview and the memories it evokes, Caroline decides that it is time for F lix to learn the secrets of the past... "A gripping, beautifully written novel about love and betrayal." --Lynne Olson, New York Times bestselling author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War"A vigorous and compelling tale." --Robert O. Paxton, author of Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order"Elegant and often moving." --Alan Riding, author of And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris"Final Transgression succeeds admirably in edifying while moving its readers." --Ronald C. Rosbottom, author of When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light under German Occupation 1940-1944"Harriet Welty Rochefort paints this complex tableau of war in France with a fine brush and a great deal of humanity." --Mary Fleming, author of The Art of Regret and Someone Else"A taut tale of love, war and politics... brings powerfully to life Paris and the P rigord, before and during WW2 and the Occupation." --Martin Walker, author of the Bruno detective series