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"This is at once a stunning self-portrait and dramatic narrative of a valorous young American woman who in World War II stayed in France to fight alongside her French husband in the French resistance. Her own dramatic story is testimony to her love, heroism and courage. It is an exciting and gripping story, one of the best of the many wartime tales."—Walter Cronkite
"Wonderfully readable, this splendid book vividly evokes the trajectory of a fun-living young wife who found deep reserves of strength and moral courage amid the hazards of war. Highly recommended."—Paul Boyer, Editor in Chief, The Oxford Companion to United States History, University of Wisconsin
"Virginia d’Albert-Lake highlights both political crises and personal catastrophes that left France in chaos and almost took her life. This meticulously edited and highly readable account illuminates her own struggle and France’s larger struggle to survive in a terrible time."—Allan M. Winkler, Miami University, author of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Making of Modern America
"Arrested shortly after D-Day in 1944, d'Albert-Lake becomes a German prisoner of war, a brutal ordeal her memoir hauntingly details. Her story of one woman’s very unusual war makes for compelling reading."—Lynn Dumenil, Occidental College, author of The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s and
coauthor of Through Women’s Eyes: An American History
"A moving story of love, companionship, commitment and sacrifice. This beautifully edited diary and memoir throw an original light on the French Resistance."—Robert Gildea, Oxford University, author of Marianne in Chains: In Search of the German Occupation, 1940–1945
"Judy Litoff has rescued the unknown story an American heroine in Occupied France. Days before Paris was liberated d'Albert-Lake was captured by the Nazis. She miraculously came home and her memoir tells the spellbinding story."—D'Ann Campbell, U.S. Coast Guard Foundation, author of Women at War With America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era and co-editior of America at War
"It was a privilege to know Virginia d'Albert-Lake. When we were with her during the war, she gave all whom she sheltered hope and belief that they would get back to England. When she herself was faced with all the terror and fear of being incarcerated in a concentration camp, she showed unbelievable courage and fortitude. With the publication of An American Heroine in the French Resistance, I hope that many Americans will come to know and honor this remarkable lady."—Flight Lieutenant Terence Bolter, RAF, downed British airman, Distinguished Flying Cross
"...an invaluable contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobigoraphies by a generation now passing from among us into history and legend."—Bookwatch
"[Litoff] is the preeminent authroity on the experiences of ordinary women in World War II, garnered through the letters they wrote to their husbands and fathers abroad."—Rhode Island Monthly
"...an indelible portrait of extraordinary strength of character...[D'Albert-Lake] is sombre, reflective, and attentive to every detail."—The New Yorker
"These pages capture the compassion and toughness of a nearly forgotten heroine as they provide an invaluable record of the workings of the French Resistance by one of the very few American women who participated in it."—Bruce Sundlun, Providence Sunday Journal
"...contains Virginia's diary of wartime France, kept until her capture, and her prison memoir, written soon after she was freed by the Allies."—Susan Aschoff, St. Petersburg Times “Something broke inside me. I knew somehow that it was all over . . . . Sweat started in my armpits; my scalp tingled; I had no choice but to stand there in the center of the dusty road, grip my [bicycle] handle bars, and wait.”—Virginia d’Albert-Lake
It was on this road deep in the forests of France on June 12, 1944, that the Germans arrested Virginia d’Albert-Lake and an Allied airman she was leading to safety. D’Albert-Lake’s work in the Resistance was over—she would spend the next eleven months as a prisoner of war, much of it in the notorious Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, where she almost died.
During World War II,Virginia d’Albert-Lake was one of many who risked their lives saving downed allied airmen along the Comet escape line that stretched from Belgium to Gibraltar. What distinguished Virginia from other resisters was that she was an American citizen who chose to
remain in France where her dangerous work nearly cost her life.
This fascinating book tells the remarkable story of an ordinary American woman’s heroism. Born in Ohio and raised in Florida, Virginia Roush fell in love with Philippe d’Albert-Lake during a visit to France in 1936; they married soon after. In 1943, they joined the Resistance. Defying gender stereotypes, Virginia put her life in jeopardy as she sheltered downed airmen. As a prisoner of war, her
refusal to reveal secrets saved many lives. After the war, Virginia stayed in France with Philippe, receiving awards that included the Légion d’Honneur and the Medal of Honor. She died in 1997.
Judy Barrett Litoff brings together two rare documents in this unique book—Virginia’s diary of wartime France until her capture in 1944 and her prison memoir written immediately after the war. Masterfully edited, they capture the compassion and toughness of a nearly forgotten heroine as they provide an invaluable record
of the workings of the Resistance by one of the very few American women who participated in it.
| JUDY BARRET LITOFF's books include We’re in this War Too: World War II Letters from American Women in Uniform and, from Fordham, Fighting Fascism in Europe: The World War II Letters of an American Veteran of the Spanish Civil War. She is Professor of History at Bryant University. |
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