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Noel Holland, Rosemary Say

Rosie’s War

An Englishwoman's Escape From Occupied France

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Details

Imprint: O'Mara Books

Publication date: 18/05/2011

ISBN: 9781843176466

Subject: Non-Fiction

Size: EPUB 2

Extent: 272 pages

Illustration: 16pp plate section

Territorial Rights: World

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Summary:

Rosie, a young Englishwoman from a comfortable middle-class background, left her London home in 1939 to work as an au pair in Avignon in the South of France. Even the outbreak of war later that year did little to disturb her happy life there, until 1940 when Hitler launched an all-out assault on Western Europe. Trying to escape back to Britain, Rosie was only able to flee as far as Paris, where she was eventually rounded up as an 'enemy alien' and sent to a German-run prison camp in Eastern France. Desperate to escape, she eventually did so with an equally industrious friend, Frida. After many months on the run in France, the young women finally reached the unoccupied city of Marseille. From there, they continued to flee through France, Spain and Portugal, at last arriving in Ireland where they were able to catch a plane back to Britain. Moving, enthralling, and inspirational, Rosie's War is a book for all to enjoy.

Reviews:

Extraordinary - a must-read

Stylist

Her memoirs are equally understated, told in almost matter-of-fact prose which somehow makes her story all the more compelling

Daily Express

A truly powerful book

Woman's Own

Terrific, a most remarkable and wonderfully atypical wartime story

Barry Norman

Exciting, vividly told... The pages of this droll, fascinating posthumous memoir are fond witness to Rosemary Say's brio and quirky sense of fun

John Lahr, The New Yorker

This story of Rosie's horrifying imprisonment and daring escape is both frank and satisfyingly unsentimental

Readers' Digest

I would recommend this book to anyone wishing for a slice of nostalgia laced with danger as it takes you back to a more innocent time yet with the most sinister of events unfolding... Such is its wide appeal I can even see this novel being made into a film

The Irish World

A delightfully uplifting read, full of fascinating wartime detail and gung-ho spirit

Daily Mail

Sales points:

  • The paperback edition of the extraordinary and genuine account of Rosemary Say - a courageous young Englishwoman whose emigration to France in 1939 led her to suffer the horrors of life under the Nazis

  • Warmly written in Rosie's own words, with the help of her daughter and son-in-law who completed the story after her death

  • A bestselling e-book, with over 35,000 copies sold

About the Author:

Noel Holland

Noel Holland is the combined author name of Noel Fursman and Julia Holland, the latter of whom is Rosemary Say's daughter. Together, they write about Rosemary's unique experience during WW2 from her point of view.

About the Author:

Rosemary Say

Rosemary Say emigrated to France in 1939 and subsequently endured the French experience of WWII. Afterwards, she became a journalist and was a leading columnist in her field, writing for a number of publications, most notably The Sunday Telegraph.

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