In the Shadow of the Pyrenees: The Freedom Trail to Spain - Paperback

by Kathryn Gauci (Author)

From USA Today Bestselling author, Kathryn Gauci, comes a thrilling and emotional story of bravery and self-sacrifice, heartbreak and revenge, set in one of the most dangerous and difficult of WWII escape routes.

"A beautiful dark-haired woman dressed in the latest Parisian fashion, stepped onto the platform. She was holding a small boy in one arm and her small suitcase and false documents in the other. A girl, about six-years-old, stood by her side clinging to her mother's skirt and clutching a doll with blonde curly hair. Justine felt a surge of pity. They didn't look strong enough for the journey ahead of them."

When France declares war on Germany, the villagers of the sleepy village of Mont-Saint-Jean have no idea how much their lives will be impacted. At first they find themselves helping a trickle of British soldiers and airmen heading into Spain, but within months, that trickle has turned into a never-ending flow. Desperate French and foreign Jews, together with ordinary men and women evading Vichy's harsh laws in search of freedom, either attempt to flee and join de Gaule's Secret Army in North Africa, or hide and regroup in readiness for D-Day. Before they know it, they are drawn into the shadowy world of escape networks in one of France's harshest and most dangerous mountainous terrains, where at every turn they face deportation or death if caught.

Rich in detail and based on true events in Occupied France, In the Shadows of the Pyrenees weaves together a powerful and vivid tableau of characters, a tortured love affair, and the heroism of countless helpers. It is a story that conjures up the voices of the past and will take you on a journey in which the ensuing upheavals continue to resonate in the villagers' lives long after the war has ended.