In This Hospitable Land

Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Historical category of the 2012 International Book Awards

When the Germans invade Belgium in 1940, chemistry professor Andre Sauverin fears the worst. His colleagues believe their social and political positions will protect them during the occupation, but Andre knows better. He has watched Hitler s rise to power and knows the Nazis will do anything to destroy their enemies. For the Sauverins are Jews, non-practicing, yes, but that won t matter to the Germans or to the Belgians desperate to protect themselves by informing on their neighbors.

And so Andre and his brother Alex take their parents, wives, and children and flee south. But when France falls to the Nazis, the refugees are caught in a rural farming community where their only hope for survival is to blend in with the locals. Fortunately, the Sauverins have come to Huguenot country, settled by victims of religious persecution who risk their own lives to protect the Jewish refugees and defy the pro-Nazi government. And as the displaced family grows to love their new neighbors, Andre and Alex join forces with the French Resistance to help protect them.

Based on one family s harrowing true story of survival, "In This Hospitable Land" is an inspirational novel about courage and the search for home in the midst of chaos.

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