JUNE 2015 - AudioFile
Documenting bravery in an isolated corner of France, Suzanne Toren narrates with clarity and authority. The story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, in the mountains of the southern Massif Central in France, is one of courage, compassion, and some controversy. It’s called “the village with a conscience” because between 1940 and 1944, the villagers, primarily Protestants, hid 800 Jews and helped nearly 3,000 Jews and others escape to Switzerland. Toren pronounces French surnames and place names smoothly and accurately. As is the case with all history that relies on personal diaries and aging memories, researchers disagree on details, but Moorehead’s version of events is compelling. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Carolyn J. Dean
…Caroline Moorehead doesn't dispute the villagers' bravery in her new book…but she does separate fact from fiction…Drawing on archives and interviews with survivors, Moorehead paints a more nuanced portrait of Le Chambon…Following the fates of several immigrant and French families, their children and rescuers, Moorehead also offers readers a nuanced portrait of the Holocaust as it unfolded in the rest of southern France's unoccupied zone…[this] compelling and deeply informed narrative…has done us the great service of unveiling the real lives behind the myth and in demonstrating that fallible human beings are far more interesting and dramatic figures than those who make up the stuff of legends.
Publishers Weekly
08/18/2014
British historian and biographer Moorehead (A Train in Winter) offers an informative, comprehensive, and nuanced account of why and how the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon hid hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust. Moorehead addresses the agonies mothers suffered at the French internment camps of Gurs and Rivesaltes when they gave up their children to be hidden; the fact that, as early as the fall of 1942, flyers in Paris concerning the deportation of Jews “spoke of the gassing of the weak and elderly”; and the role of the Darbyists, an austere, evangelical Protestant sect, in the hiding of Jews. Moorehead introduces readers to courageous rescuers both in Le Chambon and the surrounding region: Protestant pastor André Trocmé; master document-forger Oscar Rosowsky; and Moussa Abadi, a Syrian Jew who befriended the bishop of Nice (from whom he obtained an office to forge life-saving documents). She also covers the German capture of key individuals such as Madeleine Dreyfus, who helped Jewish children find refuge, and examines the ambiguous role played figures such as Major Schmähling, who commanded the local German garrison. Moorehead’s deeply researched, crisply written, and well-paced work will stand as the definitive account of a heroic, hazardous, and uplifting initiative during the German occupation. B&w photos (Oct.)
From the Publisher
[Moorehead] has done us the great service of unveiling the real lives behind the myth and in demonstrating that fallible human beings are far more interesting and dramatic figures than those who make up the stuff of legends.” — New York Times Book Review
“The definitive account… [an] unblinking exposé of resistance during the war.” — Wall Street Journal
“Le Chambon has long been mythologized in France for the actions of its inhabitants…. But, as this riveting history shows, the story is more complex... If the picture Moorhead paints is messier than the myth, this only serves to enhance the heroism of the main actors.” — The New Yorker
“Informative, comprehensive, and nuanced….Moorehead’s deeply researched, crisply written, and well-paced work will stand as the definitive account of a heroic, hazardous, and uplifting initiative during the German occupation.” — Publishers Weekly
“An exciting history of nearly forgotten individual and group courage. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal, starred review
“Moorehead not only recounts the heroics but also the everyday ordinariness of those involved, busting the embellished mythology while emphasizing the essential humanity of the entire operation.” — Booklist
“The vivid narrative takes on a cliffhanger quality….a rich, haunting account that leaves us with an uncomfortable question: What might have happened if more people had refused to go along?” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A wonderful story of the people of more than 20 communes who saved more refugees, proportionately, than anywhere else in France….Moorehead’s knowledge of the people, the area and the history make this one of the most engrossing survival stories of World War II.” — Kirkus
“Leaves one with a mixture of elation and great sadness. And it obliges the reader to stare at facts each of which is like the head of a Gorgon.” — New York Review of Books
“Harrowing and luminous…. Even this pessimist could not have imagined the death camps of the Third Reich, or the villainy of Adolf Hitler’s French collaborators. Their indecency has been exposed many times since the end of WWII, but rarely with the force and detail of Caroline Moorehead’s Village of Secrets.” — Moment
“The remote French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon…. has been the subject of numerous articles, books, and films. But Moorehead’s Village of Secrets is the best account I’ve seen in any medium. Emphatically not a debunking, this telling of the story is nonetheless deeply nuanced.” — Christianity Today
Praise for A Train in Winter: “By turns heartbreaking and inspiring.” — New York Times Book Review on A Train in Winter
“A moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read.” — People, 3½ stars, on A Train in Winter
“A Train in Winter is the first complete account of these extraordinary women. . . . Moorehead’s group portrait offers an important new perspective not only on the suffering and courage of those in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, but of the complex French response to the German occupation. Careful research and sensitive retelling.” — Boston Sunday Globe on A Train in Winter
New York Times Book Review
[Moorehead] has done us the great service of unveiling the real lives behind the myth and in demonstrating that fallible human beings are far more interesting and dramatic figures than those who make up the stuff of legends.
Booklist
Moorehead not only recounts the heroics but also the everyday ordinariness of those involved, busting the embellished mythology while emphasizing the essential humanity of the entire operation.
Moment
Harrowing and luminous…. Even this pessimist could not have imagined the death camps of the Third Reich, or the villainy of Adolf Hitler’s French collaborators. Their indecency has been exposed many times since the end of WWII, but rarely with the force and detail of Caroline Moorehead’s Village of Secrets.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
The vivid narrative takes on a cliffhanger quality….a rich, haunting account that leaves us with an uncomfortable question: What might have happened if more people had refused to go along?
New York Review of Books
Leaves one with a mixture of elation and great sadness. And it obliges the reader to stare at facts each of which is like the head of a Gorgon.
The New Yorker
Le Chambon has long been mythologized in France for the actions of its inhabitants…. But, as this riveting history shows, the story is more complex... If the picture Moorhead paints is messier than the myth, this only serves to enhance the heroism of the main actors.
Wall Street Journal
The definitive account… [an] unblinking exposé of resistance during the war.
Christianity Today
The remote French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon…. has been the subject of numerous articles, books, and films. But Moorehead’s Village of Secrets is the best account I’ve seen in any medium. Emphatically not a debunking, this telling of the story is nonetheless deeply nuanced.
3½ stars People
A moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read.
Boston Sunday Globe on A Train in Winter
A Train in Winter is the first complete account of these extraordinary women. . . . Moorehead’s group portrait offers an important new perspective not only on the suffering and courage of those in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, but of the complex French response to the German occupation. Careful research and sensitive retelling.
New York Times Book Review on A Train in Winter
Praise for A Train in Winter: “By turns heartbreaking and inspiring.
3½ stars People
A moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read.
Booklist
Moorehead not only recounts the heroics but also the everyday ordinariness of those involved, busting the embellished mythology while emphasizing the essential humanity of the entire operation.
The New Yorker
Le Chambon has long been mythologized in France for the actions of its inhabitants…. But, as this riveting history shows, the story is more complex... If the picture Moorhead paints is messier than the myth, this only serves to enhance the heroism of the main actors.
Wall Street Journal
The definitive account… [an] unblinking exposé of resistance during the war.
Buzzy Jackson
Moorehead’s group portrait offers an important new perspective not only on the suffering and courage of those in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, but of the complex French response to the German occupation Careful research and sensitive retelling.
JUNE 2015 - AudioFile
Documenting bravery in an isolated corner of France, Suzanne Toren narrates with clarity and authority. The story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, in the mountains of the southern Massif Central in France, is one of courage, compassion, and some controversy. It’s called “the village with a conscience” because between 1940 and 1944, the villagers, primarily Protestants, hid 800 Jews and helped nearly 3,000 Jews and others escape to Switzerland. Toren pronounces French surnames and place names smoothly and accurately. As is the case with all history that relies on personal diaries and aging memories, researchers disagree on details, but Moorehead’s version of events is compelling. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-07-16
Moorehead (A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France, 2011) recounts the story of a small area in eastern France where opposition to the Nazis succeeded for years. In and around the small village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in the mountains of Ardèche, the residents were led in their "remarkable adventure in imagination and cooperation" by one man in particular, Pastor Andre Trocmé. If not for the pastor, his family and his fellow citizens in the surrounding parishes, so many could never have been hidden and saved. They were descendants of the Huguenots whose history of modesty and silence enabled them to keep a secret and to keep to themselves. As Trocmé delivered his fiery sermons, he also instigated the nonviolent resistance to the oppressors. The remarkable part of this story is how many people were involved in saving not only Jews or French, but anyone on the Nazi's list of "terrorists." The pastors, the farmers who took in refugees, the forgers who created ration books and passports, and the passeurs who guided people through the mountains—all were aided by the mayor and the prefect, who looked the other way and even warned of danger. Even when 170 convalescing German soldiers were sent to the village, not a word was spread about their arrival. This is a wonderful story of the people of more than 20 communes who saved more refugees, proportionately, than anywhere else in France. Hundreds were hidden and saved, and many thousands passed through. It's proof that the smallest gestures can often make the biggest difference. While celebrating the courage and sacrifice involved, the author also examines the often contentious dynamics behind the history and its legacy. Moorehead's knowledge of the people, the area and the history make this one of the most engrossing survival stories of World War II.
