What better way to ring in the New Year than with a great book? A Good Place to Hide is just that, for not only is the book interesting, well-researched and written, and thoughtfully organized, but it's also an uplifting story.
Peter Grose neatly narrates the history of how the tiny village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (and other surrounding communities of even smaller size) saved thousands of Jews and other "fugitives" from the Vichy regime. A Good Place to Hide is every bit as exciting as The Nightingale or The Paris Architect, but with the added benefit of being a true story. Grose takes care to examine the many facetsiss border, to influential religious leaders who encouraged both non-violence and peaceful resistance from the earliest days of the war. The fact that the people of the Plateau were largely Huguenots who had, themselves, suffered centuries of religious persecution certainly didn't hurt.
As good as the history itself is, I was especially glad for the appendix of what happened to each of the individuals in the book in the years after the war. Sadly, the character who most impressed me, 17-year-old passeur Pierre Piton, who led more than 20 smuggling runs to the Swiss border helping scores of Jews escape France, has essentially disappeared. None of the people Grose interviewed has any idea what Piton may have done after the war, whether he is alive, and if so, where.
Fans of World War II history will be particularly drawn to this book, but above all, this is an uplifting story of committed individuals working for right, rather than simply accepting wrong.
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