A magnificent book about bitter loss, hope, fear, dreams—and also about family and love.
Matthias Malzieu is a popular French writer, musician, and director, creator and frontman of the rock group Dionysos, author of a dozen successful books, and a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
“The Porcelain Soldier” is the true story of the author’s father. The events take place during World War II. In 1944, after his mother’s sudden death, nine-year-old Ménu secretly crosses the demarcation line between the free and occupied zones in a cart, hiding in hay, to reach his grandmother. The grandmother’s farm is in German-occupied Lorraine, declared part of the Third Reich—here, even French is prohibited. Ménu’s new illegal life on the small farm is full of dangers: if the occupiers find him, they will execute the entire family. What’s more, his relatives are hiding not only him, but also a Jewish girl—the mother’s friend. And yet, despite the constant risk, this painful life in hiding brings the boy surprising discoveries. A novel about war, childhood under bombs, first love, hope, and finding oneself.