In a gentle memoir, the sprightly daughter of a French mother and Chinese father recalls her childhood in France during World War II. The author was exposed early to a rich cultural heritage, including colorful grandparents (she an Armenian pianist, he a kindly martinet) and the simple joys of extended family. Although her father was detained in Russia, where he had traveled on business, the family was fairly comfortably situated in the countryside, controlled by the Vichy government. Nonetheless, they felt the tremors of the Nazi occupations, and young Claire became increasingly aware of underground activities in her own home. The author, who turned seven in 1944, amusingly describes her complaints when General Eisenhower failed to march, as she expected, through her village after the Normandy invasion--she had wanted to see the exotic Americans. These and other reminiscences of a childhood world are evoked in language that strives to express a young girl's viewpoint.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.