Odette's Secrets- For Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris, nowhere is safe. So when Odette Meyer’s father is sent to a Nazi work camp, Odette’s mother takes desperate measures to protect her, sending Odette deep into the French countryside. There, Odette pretends to be a peasant girl, even posing as a Christian–and attending Catholic masses–with other children. But inside, she is burning with secrets, and when the war ends Odette must figure out whether she can resume life in Paris as a Jew, or if she’s lost the connection to her former life forever. Inspired by the life of the real Odette Meyer, this moving free-verse novel is a story of triumph over adversity. (Goodreads)
Interview for The Write Path with Maryann Macdonald, author of ODETTE’S
SECRETS
One late August afternoon a few years ago, I was walking
around the old Jewish neighborhood of the Marais in Paris with my husband. We passed an elementary school with a bronze
plaque. The plaque honored the memory of
the Jewish children, students at the school, who had been deported from France
during WWII. I kept thinking about those
children…who were they? What were their
lives like in France during the war?
I began reading about life in Paris during World War II,
especially about the life of French Jews.
I learned that 11,400 children were deported. Most of these died. But more children survived in France than in
any other European country. They were
hidden in homes, convents, monasteries, farms and schools all over the
country. To stay successfully hidden,
these children had to “reinvent” themselves, to become French Christian
children. How in the world had they been
able to do this, I wondered? And what
was it like for them to readjust to reality after the war?
In October, I was still thinking over these questions when I
was invited to the American Library in Paris to read my book, The Costume Copycat, at the library’s
annual Halloween party. After all the
pirates and princesses went home, I went upstairs to browse in the stacks. And there, by chance, I found Doors to Madame Marie, the autobiography
of Odette Meyers, a woman who had been one of those hidden French children
during the war.
I became fascinated by Odette’s story, and one night I
shared it with my husband. Together we
went to the 11th arrondissement, to stand in front of the building
where Odette had lived. “I so wish we
could go inside!” I said, looking at the heavy oak door at the front of the
building, a solid street door of the type that is always locked.
“Let’s see if we can,” my husband said, and pressed his
fingertips against the door. It swung
open! In moments we were standing in the
tiled hallway where Odette played with her red rubber ball. At the end was the tiny apartment of her
godmother, Madame Marie, the place where Odette and her mother hid in the broom
closet when the police came at dawn to arrest them. The opening of that door seemed like a sign
to me…I just had to write the story of Odette’s remarkable childhood for
today’s children.
Was it a hard,
emotional journey?
On the contrary, I was inspired by Odette’s story and loved
it. I spent years working on it, trying
to get all the details as accurate as possible, for although Odette’s Secrets is classed as
historical fiction, it is based very closely on a true story. Odette and her family and friends, nearly all
of whom have all since long passed away, were real to me and I wanted to do
justice to them and their struggles and courage.
What do you hope your
readers will come away with after reading Odette’s
Secrets?
My hope is that my readers will learn about the importance
of resilience, the security one can find in family and community, and last but
not least, the value of developing and using one’s conscience in meeting the
challenges we all encounter in life.
*photo credit- Stefan Falke
*photo credit- Stefan Falke
I just got this title from NetGalley. I can't wait to read it. The Holocaust is an interesting topic because there is just SO much going on. There is always more than one side to the story.
ReplyDeleteYes, and there are so many stories that haven't been told.
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