Dallas Public Library

Pied piper, Nevil Shute

eng

no index present

fiction

Pied piper

471793553

Nevil Shute

John Howard is determined to brighten up his old age by taking a fishing trip to France. However, during his stay the Nazis invade and he is forced to try to escape back to England with the two small children of some friends who are forced to stay behind in order to help the Allied war effort

It is the spring of 1940 and John Sidney Howard wants nothing more than to enjoy his fishing holiday in southern France in peace and quiet. However, the Nazi conquest of the Low Countries puts and end to that, and he is asked by friends to take their two children to England. Crossing France with his young charges seems simple enough at first -- until the Germans invade, rendering them fugitives. As Howard struggles to sneak across France, concealing his British identity, he picks up several more helpless children of various nationalities. They walk for miles in an endless river of refugees, strafed by German planes and hiding in barns at night. By the time Howard and his flock of little ones reach the Channel, his original plan of escaping on a fishing boat has become utterly impossible, and in their final confrontation with the invaders, all their lives are at stake. -- from back cover