Chapter 3: Lollipop Les sanglots longsDes violonsDe l’automneBlessent mon coeurD’une langueurMonotone. The slow weepingOf the violinsOf AutumnStab my heartWith a monotonousLassitude (Verlaine, 1844-1896) May 13th 1944. In less than a week, on May 18th, I’ll be 18. Ha! I don’t think I’ll ever celebrate my birthday again after that. Not that this coincidence of turning…
Chapter 2: The Station 1943. It’s been three years since the war started, well, really started. In 1940, after six months of doing nothing, we got beat up in a snap of the fingers. It’s been three years since Rennes, the city in Brittany where I was born and live in, has been occupied. Since…
Chapter 1, Exodus. Cont’d Previously on “Exodus”: the narrator, Renée is a young girl of Rennes, in Brittany. When the WWII offensive starts in May 1940, her parents send her to stay with her cousin, in Morlaix, a distant town. When France collapses in June 1940, Renée and her cousin, Maryvonne, decide to walk the…
Chapter 1: Exodus I just celebrated my birthday. I turned 14 on May 18th. At last I can stop wearing knee-high socks. I had my eye on a pair of stockings or platform shoes. I thought my birthday would be fun. But not really. Despite my mother’s delicious chocolate cake, the overall spirit was gloom.…
Equinoxio 