_Pied Piper_
by Nevil Shute
read by David Rintoul
John Howard was seventy when he found himself alone and apparently
unneeded for the war effort. His daughter had gone back to the United
States with her son Martin to reconcile with her husband; son John had
been devoted--until his plane was shot down as he returned from a
bombing raid over Germany. Finding no purpose in England, he decided
to do some fishing in France, only to find that the Germans had rolled
through Belgium to invade France as well, and how he was to get home he
had no idea. But finding that his new friends at the hotel where he
was staying wished him to take their two young children, 3 and 7 years
of age, home with him to live with their aunt for the duration of the
war while the parents continued working with the League of Nations in
Switzerland, he agreed. Then he was asked to take a chambermaid's
niece with him so she could be reunited with her father, who worked in
London. As they tried to make it through France, Howard found himself
taking on a French child whose parents died as their car was first
bombed and then strafed by rifle fire as the Germans sought to
intimidate the nation, then a Polish Jewish boy whose father was
arrested from his job on a horse farm, and finally a German girl being
sent to America to stay with her uncle after her father died during the
invasion of France.
As he traveled, Howard learned more of his son through the young woman
who'd nearly become his daughter-in-law, and saw both the worst and the
best of German behavior. On the other hand, his innate kindness and
quiet courage earned him respect he'd not thought he'd ever know.
I am told that this book was twice made into feature films, once in
1942 with Monty Woolley as Howard, and again in 1990 starring Peter
O'Toole. I hope to find copies of both versions. It's a fascinating
look at conditions in Europe during the Nazi campaign, and at the
manner in which the Nazis sought to justify their atrocities to
themselves by blaming their victims.
Well written, and perfectly narrated by Nevil Shute. Got this through
one of Audible's many sales. Well recommended. I couldn't bear to
turn it off when I got home, wanting to see what happened next.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise
cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
