The Night Belongs to the Maquis: A WWII Novel

In this riveting novel, historical fiction writer Carolyn Kay Brancato weaves a tapestry of courage by ordinary people who rise to face the evil of Nazi occupation. Set in the vivid Pyrénées of Southern France, the novel follows the dramatic, suspenseful journey of the Maquis, a band of resistance fighters shepherding Allied pilots to safety across the mountains. An expertly crafted and captivating read with dynamic characters honoring the real-life men and women who inspired this novel.



1939. In the quaint French village of Foix, feisty and independent twenty-year-old Sylvie has found the one she wants to be with forever. With war looming she pledges her heart to Jean, a young man on a neighboring farm. She rebels against her religious upbringing by consummating their relationship. But when Jean leaves to fight the Nazis, her joy is shattered by heartache.

 

Burying her pain by posing as a nun to set up a circuit of the resistance (the Maquis), Sylvie is devastated by news of her beloved's death. Grief drives her to take her vows in earnest and become a sister, but when a tragic miscommunication shatters her universe, she must decide where her faith truly lies.

 

Meanwhile, Hélène, a beautiful and capable nurse, treats the torrent of refugees escaping the Nazis as well as manages to smuggle Jewish children to safety in the port of Marseilles. And Isobel, Sylvie's head-strong teenaged niece, sees her parents taken by the Nazis and is forced to take refuge in her aunt's convent in Foix. Both women are caught up in treacherous and life-threatening dealings with two different Nazi soldiers.

 

How will all these dynamic characters survive in the crucible of the Nazi's assault on humanity?