Straight from the Library: Straight Chatting from the Library: Helene Simard

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jean Gallant Marcoux will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH HELENE SIMARD - A MAIN CHARACTER FROM THE BOOK

Hélène, where were you born?

I was born in Québec City, Canada, on July 31, 1918.

Where were you educated?

The Ursuline Convent, Québec City, where I graduated in June 1938. I was an orphan. Following my graduation, I went to study painting at Paris’s Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

What else happened in Paris?

I met Hans Werner, another art student, with whom I fell in love, and we planned to marry.

What was the best movie you’ve seen?

Quai Des Brumes, with Jean Gabin and Michele Morgan, in Paris, with Hans, my new boyfriend.

What’s the best vacation you ever had?

The ski vacation in Chamonix in December 1938, with Hans.

What’s your favorite book?

The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas (1942).

What’s the worst thing that happened to you?

The worst was Hans’s decision to report to the German army in 1939, rather than come to Québec and be married. We didn’t know then I was pregnant with our son.

What happened to you during the war?

I lived in Québec, as a single mother, not knowing if I would see Hans ever again.

What is your profession?

I teach painting at Québec’s École des Beaux-Arts.

Did Hans make up for abandoning you in 1939?

Yes, as a daring attempt to reunite, he fooled the Germans and became a spy in Québec, with no intention to do any spying. He just wanted to be with me, but that action compromised him, myself and Antoine, our son. We were hunted by the Canadian police and German assassins.

How did you, Hans, and Antoine survive the war?

You need to read the book to find out.

READ THE BLURB

After a year in Paris studying painting at l'´Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Hélene Simard returns home to Quebec City in 1939, with a secret. She has a German fiancé. She can conceal his identity, but not the baby she carries. Hans Werner, her lover, was drafted in the German army, and his dreams of ever reuniting with Hélene are shattered with WWII escalating. In 1942, a bold opportunity arises for him to cross the Atlantic. Hounded by the Canadian police and Nazi assassins, the lovers' hope for a new life together becomes intertwined with a plot to kill Winston Churchill.

READ AN EXCERPT

“How was your day?” Milaine asked. “Your grin tells me it was good.”

“I met the most stunning man and he invited me to a picnic,” Hélène said, bouncing from foot to foot, and then deciding to place her painting material on the floor.

“I want to go, but I’m not sure I should. He’s gorgeous, and he has the cutest accent, but I don’t know…”

“Hold on, hold on,” Milaine said. “Who is he? Where is he from? What kind of cute accent?”

“His name is Hans Werner,” Hélène recounted, pacing. “He’s from Berlin—”

“Hélène, never trust a German!” Milaine stopped for a moment for emphasis. “None of us Belgians do, after what they did to us during the Great War.”

“You don’t understand. You should see him; he’s so handsome.”

“Such a good-looking man is probably married,” Milaine said, “or more likely in a liaison.”

“He doesn’t wear a ring.”

“Hélène, you’re so naïve. What if he is one of these Nazi maniacs we see in magazines and newsreels in the movie theatres?”

“He’s so nice,” Hélène said, pouring herself a glass of Chablis in one of the two cheap wine glasses that came with the apartment. “I’ll ask him all these questions next Sunday.”

MEET THE AUTHOR