In the Fall They Leave: A Novel of the First World War - Paperback

by Joanna Higgins (Author)

After failing at a prestigious music Académie, nineteen-year-old Marie-Thérèse is finally meeting with success at a Brussels nursing school. But in August 1914, just as her third and final year begins, German armies invade Belgium, swiftly overcome the Allies, and press on toward France, leaving behind an occupying force. This upends everything in Brussels and in Marie-Thérèse's world. There are reports of ongoing brutalities which fuel burgeoning resentment on the part of the citizenry. Although the occupiers must be treated with respect, nothing prevents citizens from venting their anger on fellow citizens of German descent, including Marie-Thérèse's family. At the clinic and nursing school, a newly installed director orders students and staff to spy on one another. In this perilous environment, the matron of the school--a character based on the historical Edith Cavell--makes a fateful decision. Soon, so does Marie-Thérèse. Both have far-reaching consequences. In the Fall They Leave is a wartime story of moral courage, resilience, and endurance.

Author Biography

Joanna Higgins is a National Endowment for the Arts recipient whose work has been included in The Best American Short Stories series. Her first novel, A Soldier's Book, was a Finalist for the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction. In the Fall They Leave is her fourth historical novel. She and her husband live in upstate New York and have two grown children.