A Bridge to Elne
A Bridge to Elne: Epic Novel of French Resistance To The Nazi Occupation
L. E. Indianer
AuthorHouse
Reviewed By: Laura T.
"In these times, nothing was ever, forever."
In June of 1942, Dr. Marcel Pontier, a successful dentist in Marseille, France, made one of the hardest and most important decisions of his life. As WWII raged about him, he decided to move his wife and four children to her parent's home in the peaceful village of Elne, located in southern France. Elne was seen as a safe place to be at that time as the Nazi movement was most active in northern France, and no one was sure that when war would touch the beautiful village which is near the coast.
Marcel was not a man to sit still and try to wait out the war; he was a man on a mission. A member of the Maquis, or La Resistance, he and a group of extremely brave Frenchmen and women fought their own battles for France by attacking the Vichy and the invading Nazi troops. It was not an easy life at all for Marcel. Constantly on the move and hiding from the enemy, he sorely missed his wife Angelina and his family.
Angelina misses him also, and while she takes care of their children at the home of her parents, Elizabeth and Paul Courty, and her sister Paulette, they are all shocked to learn that the Germans are moving their troops into Elne, and each household there is ordered to house a German officer.
Captain Johann Weller, a German engineering officer who is secretly opposed to the entire Nazi doctrine, moves into the Courty home in Elne. The family does not want to like Johann, for he is German and an enemy, but Johann is very kind to them and they gradually get to know him and come to accept his presence in their household.
Marcel soon becomes a Maquis commander, and is on the Gestapo's list of top ten most wanted fugitives. In the home of the Courty's, Paulette and Johann find themselves quite attracted to each other, but this is a time of War, and for them to be together now is too extreme for either of them to pursue. Paulette works for the mayor of Elne, and as her office is next to an office being used by the Germans to make their plans, she is then able to pass those plans along to Marcel, who will use the information for the good of France through the Marquis.
Things go along pretty well, until the German commandant begins to suspect that Paulette may be a spy. This could cause the entire family to be executed. What takes place from then on is nothing short of a true adventure.
This novel is based on a true story and is full of wonder and suspense. The characters are brilliantly real and very well written. The style of this book tends to make one feel as if they are right there with Marcel in that time period, fighting alongside him. This reviewer picked up the book to do a "quick skim" of it, and was unable to put the book down; its story is so fascinating. As the author puts it so well, "sometimes in war, as in our life, you have to make tough decisions." I think that it would make an excellent movie.
L. E. Indianer, a retired optometric physician and lecturer on eye-related subjects, has also lectured on International Terrorism for the past fifteen years. He has written two plays, the second one being A Bridge to Elne, on which this wonderful novel is based. He resides with his family in Florida.
L. E. Indianer
AuthorHouse
Reviewed By: Laura T.
"In these times, nothing was ever, forever."
In June of 1942, Dr. Marcel Pontier, a successful dentist in Marseille, France, made one of the hardest and most important decisions of his life. As WWII raged about him, he decided to move his wife and four children to her parent's home in the peaceful village of Elne, located in southern France. Elne was seen as a safe place to be at that time as the Nazi movement was most active in northern France, and no one was sure that when war would touch the beautiful village which is near the coast.
Marcel was not a man to sit still and try to wait out the war; he was a man on a mission. A member of the Maquis, or La Resistance, he and a group of extremely brave Frenchmen and women fought their own battles for France by attacking the Vichy and the invading Nazi troops. It was not an easy life at all for Marcel. Constantly on the move and hiding from the enemy, he sorely missed his wife Angelina and his family.
Angelina misses him also, and while she takes care of their children at the home of her parents, Elizabeth and Paul Courty, and her sister Paulette, they are all shocked to learn that the Germans are moving their troops into Elne, and each household there is ordered to house a German officer.
Captain Johann Weller, a German engineering officer who is secretly opposed to the entire Nazi doctrine, moves into the Courty home in Elne. The family does not want to like Johann, for he is German and an enemy, but Johann is very kind to them and they gradually get to know him and come to accept his presence in their household.
Marcel soon becomes a Maquis commander, and is on the Gestapo's list of top ten most wanted fugitives. In the home of the Courty's, Paulette and Johann find themselves quite attracted to each other, but this is a time of War, and for them to be together now is too extreme for either of them to pursue. Paulette works for the mayor of Elne, and as her office is next to an office being used by the Germans to make their plans, she is then able to pass those plans along to Marcel, who will use the information for the good of France through the Marquis.
Things go along pretty well, until the German commandant begins to suspect that Paulette may be a spy. This could cause the entire family to be executed. What takes place from then on is nothing short of a true adventure.
This novel is based on a true story and is full of wonder and suspense. The characters are brilliantly real and very well written. The style of this book tends to make one feel as if they are right there with Marcel in that time period, fighting alongside him. This reviewer picked up the book to do a "quick skim" of it, and was unable to put the book down; its story is so fascinating. As the author puts it so well, "sometimes in war, as in our life, you have to make tough decisions." I think that it would make an excellent movie.
L. E. Indianer, a retired optometric physician and lecturer on eye-related subjects, has also lectured on International Terrorism for the past fifteen years. He has written two plays, the second one being A Bridge to Elne, on which this wonderful novel is based. He resides with his family in Florida.