A younger baby undertakes a “secret
mission” whereas her father is away at struggle.
First printed from a French
authentic within the 2015 assortment The Nice Conflict: Tales Impressed by Objects from the First World Conflict however offered right here in a small, neatly formatted
quantity with new illustrations, the story options 5½-year-old Rosalie, who
spends her days in the back of the one-room faculty whereas her mom is off at
work. The older kids and the instructor, a veteran who’s misplaced an arm, suppose
she’s simply dreaming and drawing photos, however she’s really engaged in a
mission: “At some point I’ll be awarded a medal for this. It’s already gleaming deep
inside me.” The character of that mission comes clear sooner or later when she sneaks residence
and discovers that she will be able to lastly learn for herself the letters her father had
been sending from the entrance—however as an alternative of the optimistic, loving missives her
mom had been “studying” to her, she discovers them to be darkish cries of
anguish and despair. That very day a last letter arrives…from the Ministry of
Conflict, with a medal enclosed. Quite than finish with that crushingly ironic twist,
although, de Fombelle leaves Rosalie smiling, by way of her tears, at a good friend and
concerning the medal not as a lifeless factor however one thing alive. The intense crimson
hair of Rosalie and her mom appears to glow within the grey, wintry mild of
Arsenault’s village scenes, likewise providing hints of life and heat even in
the face of horrible loss. Everybody in view is white.
A spare story prone to engender
deep, complicated responses. (Historic fiction. 10-14)
