Published in 2025
448 pages
Claire Deya is a French screenwriter and author. She won the 2024 RTL-Lire Magazine Grand Prix for her novel. Her well-researched writing and masterful storylines have won over readers and critics alike.
What is this book about?
An unforgettable portrait of suffering, hope, and love in post-World War II France, this cinematic debut novel uncovers the secrets of a little-known era.
French Riviera, April 1945. The Second World War is coming to an end, but spring has a bittersweet taste. Millions of mines still lie in wait underneath the land, on every beach. While the authorities scramble to manage this deadly threat, soldiers and families attempt to resume their normal lives, even as it becomes increasingly obvious that things will never be the same again.
Vincent anxiously returns from a German prisoner-of-war camp, with only one goal in finding Ariane, the woman he loves, who disappeared without a trace. Is she dead or in hiding? When he learns that she was forced to work at the Nazi headquarters in a nearby castle, he joins a mine clearing crew with German prisoners of war now used as cannon fodder.
In his desperate quest for information, Vincent encounters a memorable cast of characters, all scarred by the war in their own Saskia, a Jewish girl with eyes full of ghosts; Fabien, an expert minesweeper eager to bury painful memories in the sand; as well as soldiers like Lukas, Hans, and Mathias, who seem to know more than they can tell about Ariane.
