‘Beautifully written and deeply affecting’ Clare Mulley, author of Agent Zo, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize
‘Extraordinary… a luminous portrait of survival and a powerful reminder of the light that can be found in humanity’s darkest hours’ Ellie Midwood, bestselling and award-winning author of The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz
‘Unforgettable. Renée’s deeply moving memoir is a powerful testament to human resilience and survival. A must-read!’ Claire Hubbard-Hall, author of Her Secret Service
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank meets The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour in this extraordinary story of a Jewish girl trying to save herself, her family, and members of the Jewish community from Nazi capture during the Holocaust.
When her hometown of Berlin falls under Nazi rule, Ruth takes her younger sister and boards a train bound for safety. But with the war progressing swiftly through Europe, they are soon forced to separate and Ruth finds herself joining the ranks of the secret French resistance.
Armed with a new identity and a burning desire to fight the forces that tore her family apart, Ruth becomes Renée. Under her new guise she impersonates a Gestapo member to save a baby from capture, is held and questioned by Nazis whilst delivering forged identification documents and smuggles Jewish children across the border into Switzerland. But even as she risks capture every day, the promise of ever being reunited with her family slips further and further away…
***
Previously published with the title Resistance Girl Renée
‘Extraordinary… a luminous portrait of survival and a powerful reminder of the light that can be found in humanity’s darkest hours’ Ellie Midwood, bestselling and award-winning author of The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz
‘Unforgettable. Renée’s deeply moving memoir is a powerful testament to human resilience and survival. A must-read!’ Claire Hubbard-Hall, author of Her Secret Service
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank meets The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour in this extraordinary story of a Jewish girl trying to save herself, her family, and members of the Jewish community from Nazi capture during the Holocaust.
When her hometown of Berlin falls under Nazi rule, Ruth takes her younger sister and boards a train bound for safety. But with the war progressing swiftly through Europe, they are soon forced to separate and Ruth finds herself joining the ranks of the secret French resistance.
Armed with a new identity and a burning desire to fight the forces that tore her family apart, Ruth becomes Renée. Under her new guise she impersonates a Gestapo member to save a baby from capture, is held and questioned by Nazis whilst delivering forged identification documents and smuggles Jewish children across the border into Switzerland. But even as she risks capture every day, the promise of ever being reunited with her family slips further and further away…
***
Previously published with the title Resistance Girl Renée
Reviews
'Unforgettable. A rare coming-of-age story of a young Jewish teenager who fled Nazi Germany and joined the French resistance. 'Renée' survived unbelievable hardship and risked all to save the lives of countless Jewish children. Her deeply moving memoir is a powerful testament to human resilience and survival. A must-read!'
'A slim volume of great power. This part memoir, part tribute is beautifully written and deeply affecting.'
'A masterclass in resilience. This extraordinary memoir captures the breathless terror of occupied France and the fierce, unyielding courage of a young woman who refused to be broken. This is a luminous portrait of survival and a powerful reminder of the light that can be found in humanity's darkest hours.'
'What makes They Called Me Renée so moving is the sense of before and after. A lovingly described domestic world is shattered the day in 1938 when the Nazis come to the house to arrest the author's father and he disappears forever-from one day to the next everything is lost. Survival depends upon strategy and luck. The eighteen-year-old Uzrad makes the terrifying journey from Berlin to Lyon where she joins the French Resistance. She does not think of herself as heroic. This is what you do. You fight back.'