It took me a while to pick this book up. I didn’t know anything about it and wasn’t sure if I would be interested. It sat around as I read other books but finally I decided to give it a try. I was hooked from the start.
Nix begins this story in the late 1990’s when Robert de La Rochefoucald takes the stand in defense of a man on trial for signing paperwork that sent train cars worth of French Jews to concentration camps. Rochefoucald had met the man in the 1960s and had the opportunity to ask him about the resistance in that area of the country. Rochefoucald had noticed that there were a large number of Jews fighting in the resistance in this area of the country. He asked why there were so many and had been told they had a man in the government who told them every time there was going to be a round up so that they could flee. Rochefoucald learned this man in the government was the same man on trial and so testified.
Nix then turns to the life of Rochefoucald and his exploits during World War II. He outlines how he was denounced by someone in his home town and was alerted to it by the mailman. The teenager Rochefoucald decided he had to flee to Britain. To do so he had to go south to Vichy France and then on to Spain.
After making it to Britain he trained with the British to become a Sabotuer. After the training was complete he parachuted back into France and began his work. He had numerous close calls and was detained by the nazis more than once but survived to lead a raid against the Nazis at the end of the war. He received numerous medals and honors for his time in the resistance and in the French Army.
Overall this is a great read. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.
“What about Roxane?” Alexander asked.
“Your prisoner bride?”
“Such disrespect is worthy of death!”
“There is no possible way that you could love her or that she could truly love you.”
“What gives you the insight to speak so assertively about matters you know nothing about?”
“Daughter of Oxyarthes, the man who surrendered the Iron Gates to you, makes for a very political marriage.”
“Continue,” said Alexander.
“At a feast celebrating your latest victory a number of young women were brought in for entertainment. You spotted one of them whose beauty far surpassed the others and you decided on the spot to marry her once you learned she was the daughter of Oxyarthes. You needed to cement a strong relationship with the local leaders. What better way to do this than through marriage? You didn’t share a common language and never even spoke to each other beforehand. She never was given a choice. So she is your prisoner bride.”
“You have a vague outline of the past. I suppose it is remarkable that you have as much ...
