Cirrus@Austlit

'A poignant story of the impact of war on a defenceless French village during the Second World War. Four courageous villagers join the Maquis, the Resistance in Vichy occupied France, to protect their families. They are swept into a treacherous conflict where one false word or brave action can result in the torture and death of people they know and love. One old man and a young girl survive the savage destruction that wipes out the whole community.

'This novel uses the recorded history of the devastation of many rural villages in the Aveyron, Lot and Tarn departments of the Midi-Pyrénées. Oradour-sur-Glane in the Haute-Vienne Department is a famous memorial to the brutality of the Second World War.' (Publication summary)

'1942, Italy, at war fighting with the Germans, against the Allied forces. The Allies have vanquished the Germans in Sicily and have invaded the beaches of Sorrento, south of Naples. The city has been destroyed by the powerful eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Allied bombing raids. A young Italian girl escapes being shot by the Germans when her Puglia village is invaded. Elena struggles alone across the barren foot of Italy to Naples, surviving rape attempts and attacks by feral street children. She finds temporary shelter in a cave outside Naples and tries to move on with her life.' (Publication summary)