The Propagandist: An Extraordinary WWII Autobiographical Novel. New Yorker Best Books of The Year.
3299
The Propagandist: An Extraordinary WWII Autobiographical Novel. New Yorker Best Books of The Year.
3299
'In her debut novel, a historian of Vichy France tackles her family's real-life collaboration during the Second World War' - New Yorker Best Books of the Year
In a grand Paris apartment, a young girl attends gatherings regularly organised by her mother. They talk about clothes and exchange the day's gossip, but the mood grows dark when they start to talk about her past, and the great love she is said to have known during the Second World War.
When the girl grows up, she looks into the enigmatic figures in and around her family. Who was the man her mother fell in love with before the war? Why did they zealously collaborate with the Nazi occupiers of France? And why did they remain for decades afterwards obsessive devotees of that lost cause?
In The Propagandist, a historian of Vichy France investigates the secrets, lies and omissions in her own family in the way she has investigated those of France itself. It is a masterpiece of psychological insight, revealing how people can spend a lifetime deceiving themselves, rather than confront their own past.
'This autobiographical story by Cécile Desprairies, a historian of the Occupation, is told in taut, unflashy prose. The narrator never explicitly judges her family; she just lays out their embrace of Nazism in cool detail. The result is devastatingly effective' The Times
In a grand Paris apartment, a young girl attends gatherings regularly organised by her mother. They talk about clothes and exchange the day's gossip, but the mood grows dark when they start to talk about her past, and the great love she is said to have known during the Second World War.
When the girl grows up, she looks into the enigmatic figures in and around her family. Who was the man her mother fell in love with before the war? Why did they zealously collaborate with the Nazi occupiers of France? And why did they remain for decades afterwards obsessive devotees of that lost cause?
In The Propagandist, a historian of Vichy France investigates the secrets, lies and omissions in her own family in the way she has investigated those of France itself. It is a masterpiece of psychological insight, revealing how people can spend a lifetime deceiving themselves, rather than confront their own past.
Details
ISBN13: 9781800755239
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 208
Edition:
Publication Date: 02 Sep 2025
Publisher: Swift Press
Publication City, Country: United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 21.6(H)x13.5(L)
Weight (gm):
Author Biography
Cécile Desprairies is a specialist in Germanic civilization and a historian of the Nazi occupation of France. The author of several historical works about the occupation and the Vichy regime, she was born in Paris in 1957. The Propagandist is her first novel.Reviews
'A vividly detailed story inter-woven with scorching truth ... a personal J'Accuse, indicting her mother and the family - a community of enthusiastic collaborators - for their part in the collapse of a country' The Spectator'This autobiographical story by Cécile Desprairies, a historian of the Occupation, is told in taut, unflashy prose. The narrator never explicitly judges her family; she just lays out their embrace of Nazism in cool detail. The result is devastatingly effective' The Times