• Village of Secrets

  • Defying the Nazis in Vichy France
  • By: Caroline Moorehead
  • Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
  • Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (95 ratings)

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Village of Secrets  By  cover art

Village of Secrets

By: Caroline Moorehead
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
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Publisher's summary

From the author of the New York Times bestseller A Train in Winter comes the fascinating story of a French village that helped save thousands hunted by the Gestapo during World War II.

High up in the mountains of the southern Massif Central in France lie tiny, remote villages united by a long and particular history. During the Second World War, the inhabitants of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and its parishes saved thousands wanted by the Gestapo: resisters, Freemasons, communists, and, above all, Jews, many of them orphans whose parents had been deported to concentration camps. There were no informers, no denunciations, and no one broke ranks. During raids, the children would hide in the woods, their packs on their backs, waiting to hear the farmers' song that told them it was safe to return. After the war, Le Chambon became one of only two places in the world to be honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations.

Just why and how Le Chambon and its outlying villages came to save so many people has never fully been told. With unprecedented access to newly opened archives in France, Britain, and Germany, along with interviews documenting the testimony of surviving villagers, Caroline Moorehead paints an inspiring portrait of courage and determination: of what was accomplished when a small group of people banded together to oppose tyranny.

A major contribution to the history of the Second World War, Village of Secrets sets the record straight about the events in Chambon and pays tribute to a group of heroic individuals for whom saving others became more important than their own lives.

©2014 Caroline Moorehead (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Village of Secrets

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book brought to life by Ms. Toren

What made the experience of listening to Village of Secrets the most enjoyable?

Suzanne Toren's outstanding reading of this book made the overall experience of the book far better than could be obtained from the printed page

What about Suzanne Toren’s performance did you like?

Ms. Toren's ability to put feeling into her reading gave the book a depth that the printed word just doesn't have. In addition, as many of the names and places are French, Ms. Toren's apparent knowledge of French and her superb ability to properly pronounce the French words and names made her rendition especially good. In many other books, the reader doesn't take the time to get the correct pronunciation of the proper names, but Ms. Toren did. Without question, this was the best reading of all the many Audible books I have read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Historical Review of a Significant Story

Overall, this historical account of the resistance to the Nazi’s by those living a rural plateau and beyond in Vichy France was very moving to me, in part because it recounts a season and attitudes so similar to what is happening in the United States and other a Western countries today. Weaknesses of the book are the lack of immediate translations of the many French phrases and titles, and the immemorable names of people and places (though this is also its strength in giving voice to many of the “righteous” and the collaborators [or worse] during that time; this weakness is addressed in a list offered in the front of the paper and Kindle versions). If you don’t want to hear “history” but only the story, this may not be a book for you. But it is an important voice about a courageous people who acted humanly in an inhumane world.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding!

A balanced and fascinating story of the hiding and saving of Jews during the German occupation of France. Moorhead does an excellent job of explaining the contested opinions and histories of the actions of the remote French villages. What a story of triumph over evil and hope in humanity!
Had I read instead of listened to, it may have been easier to keep names/stories of individuals straight.
The narrator was FANTASTIC.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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long but compelling story of Holocaust in France

excellent research, compelling story , well written and performed, insight into WW2 France. recommended

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Extrodanarily researched with consideration for conflicting memories

I will read this again. I want to study the photos and learn their faces and names by heart. The history of this region during WWII was very slow to surface exactly for the reasons they were so successful at aiding the Jewish children - they are humble and did not seek attention for the many good deeds they carried out. I am looking forward to visiting the area, and seeing the museum that they reluctantly created. They don’t seek tourists crowding their town. But I must honor them by learning their stories well enough to retell them.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ordinary People Heros

I had never heard this wonderful story and was intrigued right from the start..so many ordinary people risked their lives to help the children, their parents (if they were still alive after being sent to various Concentration camps) so many stepped in to help.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting!

This is a very good and very interesting book!

I did find myself a little mired in details about specific people in the early chapters, it once though that it progresses well and is very interesting.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A very beautiful book

History told through the eyes and feelings of the people that lived it. A lesson that doesn't push to be a lesson. Just a reminder. From the heart to the heart.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Quality research and excellent writing

This is the third book I have read about the WWII history of this remote mountain plateau in France, whose inhabitants saved the lives of many. Moorehead has obviously carefully sifted through conflicting memories of events to bring us a balanced account. Yet her writing never gets tedious.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Well researched

Won’t say I enjoyed this. The reality that so many didn’t escape is heart rending. But the deeds of those that did right shouldn’t be forgotten.

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