Village of Secrets

Defying the Nazis in Vichy France

By: Caroline Moorehead

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

“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

From the author of the New York Times bestseller A Train in Winter comes the absorbing story of a French village that helped save thousands hunted by the Gestapo during World War II—told in full for the first time.

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon is a small village of scattered houses high in the mountains of the Ardèche, one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of Eastern France. During the Second World War, the inhabitants of this tiny mountain village and its parishes saved thousands wanted by the Gestapo: resisters, freemasons, communists, OSS and SOE agents, and Jews. Many of those they protected were orphaned children and babies whose parents had been deported to concentration camps.

With unprecedented access to newly opened archives in France, Britain, and Germany, and interviews with some of the villagers from the period who are still alive, Caroline Moorehead paints an inspiring portrait of courage and determination: of what was accomplished when a small group of people banded together to oppose their Nazi occupiers. A thrilling and atmospheric tale of silence and complicity, Village of Secrets reveals how every one of the inhabitants of Chambon remained silent in a country infamous for collaboration. Yet it is also a story about mythmaking, and the fallibility of memory.

A major contribution to WWII history, illustrated with black-and-white photos, Village of Secrets sets the record straight about the events in Chambon, and pays tribute to a group of heroic individuals, most of them women, for whom saving others became more important than their own lives.

A very beautiful book

History told through the eyes and feelings of the people that lived it. A lesson that doesn't push to be a lesson. Just a reminder. From the heart to the heart.

Quality research and excellent writing

This is the third book I have read about the WWII history of this remote mountain plateau in France, whose inhabitants saved the lives of many. Moorehead has obviously carefully sifted through conflicting memories of events to bring us a balanced account. Yet her writing never gets tedious.

Outstanding!

A balanced and fascinating story of the hiding and saving of Jews during the German occupation of France. Moorhead does an excellent job of explaining the contested opinions and histories of the actions of the remote French villages. What a story of triumph over evil and hope in humanity!
Had I read instead of listened to, it may have been easier to keep names/stories of individuals straight.
The narrator was FANTASTIC.

Very interesting!

This is a very good and very interesting book!

I did find myself a little mired in details about specific people in the early chapters, it once though that it progresses well and is very interesting.

Like a text book

Lots of great information, but written as a textbook so hard to listen to. Very dry. Doesn’t follow any certain character so you cannot get involved in the story.

Wonderful book brought to life by Ms. Toren

What made the experience of listening to Village of Secrets the most enjoyable?

Suzanne Toren's outstanding reading of this book made the overall experience of the book far better than could be obtained from the printed page

What about Suzanne Toren’s performance did you like?

Ms. Toren's ability to put feeling into her reading gave the book a depth that the printed word just doesn't have. In addition, as many of the names and places are French, Ms. Toren's apparent knowledge of French and her superb ability to properly pronounce the French words and names made her rendition especially good. In many other books, the reader doesn't take the time to get the correct pronunciation of the proper names, but Ms. Toren did. Without question, this was the best reading of all the many Audible books I have read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

long but compelling story of Holocaust in France

excellent research, compelling story , well written and performed, insight into WW2 France. recommended

Inspiring stories of survival in Vichy France

This is an important work that deals forthrightly with conflicts in wartime recollections of citizens of several small towns in the Massif Central as residents struggled with protecting fleeing Jewish victims of Vichy, France. It celebrates the triumph of spirit of an iconoclastic set of villages- even though some of the rescuers lost their own lives to the Nazis. The Chambonais tradition of religious dissent & piety was key as was the geographic isolation; and, Moorehead explains these factors as she investigates the complicated cast of victims, pastors and rescuers during WW2. A strong focus is on the plight of sheltered children- mostly orphans.
The narrator is simply superb.

Extrodanarily researched with consideration for conflicting memories

I will read this again. I want to study the photos and learn their faces and names by heart. The history of this region during WWII was very slow to surface exactly for the reasons they were so successful at aiding the Jewish children - they are humble and did not seek attention for the many good deeds they carried out. I am looking forward to visiting the area, and seeing the museum that they reluctantly created. They don’t seek tourists crowding their town. But I must honor them by learning their stories well enough to retell them.

Not a very cohesive book

Lately, I've been more interested in World War II so have been looking for a variety of books on the subject. This one looked promising despite some mixed reviews. I try not to read too many reviews ahead of time because I want to form my own opinions.

So here are my opinions. Despite some good and compelling writing, and a lot of details, this book is a bit of a mess. There are so many threads woven in, but most are broken. There are not too many people when you consider all the facts in the book, but Caroline Moorehead would have done better to focus on a few people with the others being small parts. Here almost everyone is a small player.

The other problem with this book is that by the end I had no clue how many people were saved. There are many that don't seem to get saved, but there were so few memorable personages that I never formed a connection to any of them.

I understand that there are 3 other books by Caroline Moorehead about WWII, but I'll probably skip them, even though I've heard at least one of them is much better than this. I'm sad to give a lukewarm review for this book since so much research and work went into it.

The narration was better than the book.