LA FAUTE / THE FAULT – Monnat

Information

Author:

Daniel Monnat

Date:

Slatkine & Cie
February 2020

Author:

Additional Info

THE FAULT

Rights Holder: Slatkine & Cie
Original Language: French (English translation available)

How to redeem oneself after a betrayal which has wrought life and death consequences?

Geneva: 1939 Europe will shortly be engulfed in the flames of war, yet a carefree band of university students could hardly care less. Partying until dawn, chasing girls and only incidentally passing exams is their principal occupation. But Michel Super has another worry: he is a poor provincial from Neuchatel and his classmates are all from well-off Geneva families. Hoping to lift himself out of his precarious position and to win the hand of a Geneva baker's daughter, he is led to betray into deportation a fugitive German-Jewish family, Daniel, Judith, and their baby Sarah.

Gripped by remorse and guilt, Michel attempts to redeem himself by trying to save the family. The young medical student chooses to abandon the comfort and security of Switzerland top lounge voluntarily into the gigantic massacre of wartime Europe, an epic journey as a member of a somewhat dubious Red Cross mission which takes him through Nazi Germany, Russia and Belarus.

But this book is not just a saga of redemption. It is a well-documented historical novel of Switzerland during the Second World War as seen through the eyes of a young medical student. It describes actual deeds, today perhaps somewhat questionable, as well as a portrayal of the leaders at the time, some sincere or not, who played a recognized role in illustrating and defining the attitude of Switzerland during WWII.

Daniel Monnat was born in Bern is 1951. After earning a degree in modern history, he began his career as a journalist for the Radio Suisse Romande and later became a producer for Swiss Television where he created numerous reportages notably for the acclaimed TV magazine Temps Présent. This is his first novel.

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