Lucie Aubrac

May 1, 2016
This biography illuminates for an English-speaking audience the lives of Lucie and Raymond Aubrac, heroes of the French Resistance of World War II.Many Americans know little of "la Resistance" and its key players, but the Aubracs are revered in France for their daring guerilla warfare against Nazi occupiers. In this enlightening biography, Rees (Moll: The Life and Times of Moll Flanders, 2011, etc.) focuses on Lucie, an intense and driven young woman. "Refusal has been a principle all my life," Lucie once said, and she more than lives up to this quote. When the Germans invaded France, the Aubracs faced a difficult decision: should they endure fascist rule or simply flee to the United States? Their decision to remain and fight led them to constant danger. Lucie arranged jail breaks, tied herself to the undersides of trains, and oversaw forged documents. She proved to be a tireless fighter, broadcasting for the BBC and organizing a death-defying ambush. In the later chapters, Rees examines a controversial question: were the Aubracs actually informers for the Germans, as one Gestapo officer claimed? While this is a wrenching possibility, the author adds additional layers to her story, showing how the Resistance was rife with division and doubt. The Aubracs were disappointed, in the wake of World War II, to find French colonialism just as abusive as Nazi operations in France. The 1940s were a desperate time for Western Europe, and the Aubracs' exploits seem less sterling in retrospect. "War records, war secrets, war shames," writes Rees. "They were all a constant bubbling undercurrent to political life in France...joy was mingled with fear that some very uncomfortable stones were going to be turned over." Still, the author manages to celebrate Lucie's extraordinary life, warts and all. Like the novelist Andre Malraux and adventurer Jacques Cousteau, Lucie was extremely active in the war's aftermath, but she and Raymond were often disenchanted by the politics of the Fifth Republic. A refreshing addition to World War II literature.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 15, 2016

By the age of 30, Lucie Aubrac (1912-2007) was already an important figure in the French Resistance movement of World War II. With her husband, Raymond, she established Liberation-Sud, an early and active group that opposed Nazi occupation in southern France. Frequently acting as a messenger or weapons courier, at other times planning and executing dangerous escapes, including one from Klaus Barbie, the notorious Butcher of Lyon, Aubrac's work as a clandestine agent of the Free French Army has been both recognized and criticized by contemporaries and historians alike. Rees (The Floating Brothel) casts a more positive light on Aubrac's exploits but also presents the accusations and controversies that surrounded her activities. Based primarily on Aubrac's own autobiography, Outwitting the Gestapo, along with other primary and secondary sources, this is a thrilling story of cloaks and daggers, informers and collaborators, truth and fabrications. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy popular European history, particularly those with an interest in France during the dark days of World War II.--Linda Frederiksen, Washington State Univ. Lib., Vancouver

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Lucie Aubrac and her husband, Raymond, were two of the most celebrated members of the French Resistance movement against the Nazi occupation. Lucie, in particular, with her flair for the dramatic, became a symbol of elan and courage within France and other Allied nations. She was innovative in her methods of spreading pro-Resistance information and twice rescued her husband from the arch Gestapo torturer Klaus Barbie. Their escape from France and arrival in Britain in an RAF plane in 1944 further enhanced their iconic status. In 1983, Barbie, then on trial for war crimes in France, insisted that the couple had actually served as informers for the Gestapo. This led to a series of claims, counterclaims, and even an investigative commission composed of historians. Author and historian Rees examines Lucie's life and the controversy in considerable detail. While she acknowledges that Lucie herself tended to embellish some of her exploits, Rees convincingly maintains that the heroic stature of Lucie and her husband is well deserved. Rees provides a well-researched, sometimes slow, though generally well-written tribute to the Aubracs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)