About A Train in Winter
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper (November 8, 2011)
They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newpapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen, who scrawled “V” for victory on the walls of her lycee; the eldest, a farmer’s wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to one another, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazis occupiers.
Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women of the French Resistance and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, finding solace and strength in friendship; their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class.
In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would survive.
Interweaving original sources, archival research, and in-depth personal interviews, A Train in Winter is the riveting narrative of this remarkable band of sisters, patriots whose love fortified them in the face of deprivation, horror, and death.
“Heightened by electrifying, and staggering, detail, Moorehead’s riveting history stands as a luminous testament to the indomitable will to survive and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“Compelling…. Moorehead weaves into her suspenseful, detailed narrative myriad personal stories of friendship, courage, and heartbreak.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Rightfully gives these women-survivors and nonsurvivors alike—their place in our historical memory.”
— Library Journal
About Caroline Moorehead
The author of numerous biographies and works of history, including Gellhorn and Human Cargo, Caroline Moorehead has also written for The Telegraph, The Times, and The Independent. The cofounder of a legal advice center for asylum seekers from Africa, she divides her time between England and Italy.
Caroline’s Tour Stops
Tuesday, November 8th: Unabridged Chick
Thursday, November 10th: Melody & Words
Friday, November 11th: Elle Lit.
Monday, November 14th: Diary of an Eccentric
Wednesday, November 16th: Among Stories
Wednesday, November 16th: Unabridged Chick – author interview
Thursday, November 17th: Broken Teepee
Friday, November 18th: Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms
Monday, November 21st: Jenny Loves to read
Tuesday, November 22nd: Picky Girl
Monday, November 28th: Reviews by Lola
Tuesday, November 29th: Buried in Print
Wednesday, November 30th: Savvy Verse & Wit
Friday, December 2nd: Wordsmithonia
Friday, December 2nd: Books and Movies
Monday, December 5th: Take Me Away
Ruth Herbst, USA says
Just finished A Train in Winter. I can’t remember when I have been so moved. It reminded me of line from a poem…”To live in the hearts of those left behind…is not to die…” I hope your women are remimbered forever. Thank you for something so painful…and beautiful.