THIS WAS THEIR LAND

A simple, kindly novel of France at her fall seen through the eyes of a group of peasants, the few to remain in their village as fear of the invading Germans drove most on the road. There are Amelie and Louis, farmers; Marcelle, their daughter, who is pregnant, her husband in the Army; there is Mrs. Croisnat, lame, and her simpleminded son, Moel; there is the shepherd Albert, whose philosophy of faith and non-resistance gives them all courage. They are joined by a family of refugees, forced to stop there, an old man, his daughter, his small granddaughter, Ninette. Terror grows among them all, which culminates in the bombardment of the village and the destruction of their home and the death of the little Ninette. But the true French spirit is unbroken and symbolized in the birth of Marcelle's child. Adequate in its field -- homespun, with a note of uplift. But limited in market.