by Tracy Groot
Some wreaths at her graveside had the names of squadrons or divisions. Some inscriptions were jotted on flat pieces of wood, like large Popsicle sticks, and stuck into the ground. Thank you for saving my husband. Thank you for saving my dad. Thanks for saving Grandpa.
Antoinette Cornelia Devault
1876–1944
Connue de ses garçons comme Clemmie.
Brigitte squeezed his arm.
“What’s it say?”
“‘Known to her boys as Clemmie.’”
Tom knelt beside the grave. And after fifty years of rehearsing his speech, he couldn’t say a word.
Next to many others on the white marbled stone, he laid an old button.
A Note from the Author
I stood on Omaha Beach and scooped sand for Colonel Walter B. Forbes, who had flown missions over the beach on D-Day but had never set foot on the ground. I visited Pegasus Bridge and had lunch at the Café Gondrée, the first French business to be liberated after four long years of Occupation. I visited the Château de Bénouville, stood in the chapel that hid evading Allies.
I did this on July 4, the day of liberty for Americans. I found it fitting, as an American, to celebrate July 4 in Normandy.
Favorite part of the trip: I stood in the spot where Sergeant Wagger Thornton fired the single PIAT shot that stopped a panzer in its tracks en route to the bridge. Just how significant was that single shot? When German officers saw a series of explosions in Bénouville, they figured the British were present in great strength, and chose to wait for dawn and clear orders. What they had observed, in fact, was that Thornton’s shot had inadvertently ignited an awesome fireworks display of machine gun clips, grenades, and shells—a display that lasted nearly an hour and caused confusion to the Germans, which prevented a decisive counterattack. Just how decisive could that counterattack have been? Rommel’s Twenty-First Panzer Division, consisting of 127 tanks and over twelve thousand men, waited at various distances for orders. It was the only panzer division to counterattack the Allies on D-Day—and was largely ineffective, due to conflicting reports on the situation, due to orders that came too late . . . due to one guy with impeccable aim.
Read about Wagger Thornton’s historic shot in The Pegasus and Orne Bridges by Neil Barber (Pen and Sword, 2009) or in Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 by Stephen E. Ambrose (Simon & Schuster, 1988). It was Ambrose who gave me the idea for this impressionistic Rahab retelling when he mentioned the brothel in Bénouville.
Chris Trueman recounts the significance of the bridge’s capture on History Learning Site: “The taking of Pegasus Bridge in the early hours of D-Day was a major triumph for the Allies. The control of Pegasus Bridge gave the Allies the opportunity to disrupt the Germans’ ability to bring in re-enforcements to the Normandy beaches” (“Pegasus Bridge,” accessed December 6, 2011, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pegasus_bridge.htm). Ambrose says this: “A panzer division loose on the beaches, amidst all the unloading going on, could have produced havoc with unimaginable results.” Later in his book he asserts, “An argument can therefore be made that Sergeant Thornton had pulled off the single most important shot of D-Day, because the Germans badly needed that road.”
It was pretty cool to stand in that spot. So Tom did, too, however briefly.
Many characters in Flame of Resistance are composites of real people, while others, including Krista Hegel and Madame Léa Vion, actually existed. The places were real, some of the businesses were real, and many events actually happened. To sort through the mishmash of truth and fiction, as C. S. Lewis says, “The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backward mutters of dissevering power’—or else not.”
—T. G.
Acknowledgments
Many, many thanks to the following for their kind and gracious aid in the writing of this novel; they either helped track down facts, read the manuscript, or shared memories of living under Nazi occupation: Jean-Loic Bagot, Neil Barber, Ann Byle, Ray Byle, Terry Crowdy, Katherine Dance, Brooke Dekkinga, Ryan Dekkinga, Rebecca Eerdmans, Marthe Forbes, Chris Freeman, Debby Green, Jean Groot, Rick Harmon, Jason Hill, Alison Hodgson, Melissa Huisman, Louise Lindemulder, Gerri Pipping, Jim Pipping, Jason Porter, Sergeant First Class Matthew Scherbinski, Beth Steenwyk, Jay Stone, Karen VanderVelde, Lauren Wedge, Mark Worthington, the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, the Michigan Company of Military Historians and Collectors, and the Pegasus Memorial Museum of Normandy.
Thanks to my beloved Guild, sisters in writing crime: Cynthia Beach, Shelly Beach, Angela Blycker, Ann Byle, Sharron Carrns, Lorilee Craker, and Alison Hodgson.
Thanks to my core competencies Kathy Helmers, Dan Raines, and Meredith Smith from Creative Trust, who, one fine day in Tennessee, were all kinds of mean to me.
Thanks to the entire team at Tyndale, including Stephanie Broene, Karen Watson, and especially Kathy Olson, who shows me all over again how impoverished a novel is without a fine editor.
Special thanks to my personal American hero, Colonel Walter B. Forbes, USAF, who graciously gave hours of his time to relate firsthand accounts and details about WWII and about a certain P-47 called The Gal from Kalamazoo. This Bronze Star and Legion of Merit recipient flew missions on D-Day, was shot down over France, and had a heck of a dogfight over Germany—and the boy was just getting started. He flew a total of seventy-two missions in WWII and went on to a long and distinguished career in the Air Force.
Thanks to my kids, Evan, Becca, Gray, and Riley, for caring about what I do, and to Riley for helping with research: he cheerfully dangled from a broom handle, all trussed up, so Mom could get a visual on Tom’s situation in the A-frame. Thanks, Riley. Don’t call Social Services. Remember the ice cream.
Finally, thanks to Jack, my unflagging, cheerful, and indefatigable aide-de-camp in countless hours of research in the States, France, and England. Any errors belong completely to him.
Just kidding. Any errors belong to my kids.
About the Author
TRACY GROOT lives in Michigan with her husband and three sons. She is the author of The Brother’s Keeper and Stones of My Accusers, which both received starred Booklist reviews, and Madman, a Christy Award winner that also received a starred Publishers Weekly review. Luckily, she and her husband own a coffee shop in Holland, Michigan, where a caffeine junkie can find acceptability and safe haven.
Tracy is a fan of the Detroit Lions, listens exclusively to Rich Mullins and U2, is an avid supporter of nothing in particular, and in her dreams would like to host a talk show with John Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, Michael Shaara, Donald Miller, C. S. Lewis, and G. K. Chesterton. In her dreams, she’d also like to stand on Little Round Top with Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and holler, “Fix bayonets!”
In her spare time she likes to read, knit socks, watch as many movies and TV shows as she can respectably get away with, mess around on the piano, bake very naughty amounts of sweets, and take long walks, preferably in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She also likes to write, sometimes under the influence (of sweets, caffeine, misguided notions, and wild seismic fluctuations), sometimes not.
Someday she’d like to ride through the Badlands on a Harley with “Born to Be Wild” blaring on the radio, beat Bobby Fischer at chess, and round Cape Horn in a clipper ship. Her heroes include Mary Ann Patten (who rounded Cape Horn in a clipper ship), Raoul Wallenberg, Corrie ten Boom, Jack Groot, Evan Groot, Becca Groot, Grayson Groot, and Riley Groot.
To learn more about Tracy or her books, visit her online at www.tracygroot.com.
Discussion Questions
1. The author calls this book an “impressionistic retelling” of the story of Rahab from the Bible (Joshua 2). In what ways does Brigitte remind you of Rahab? What differences are there?
2. In the Bible, Rahab is characterized as a woman who had faith in what God was doing and acted on it. How do you see that theme play out through Brigitte and other characters in the story?
3. Brigitte and Tom both have preconceived notions about each other before they even m
eet. What are they? Have you ever done the same—judged someone before you met them? What are some of the dangers of preconceived judgments?
4. Brigitte tells Tom that the Occupation has made her glad for the things she does get. “Before, I was never grateful,” she says. Have you ever faced a challenge or loss that made you grateful for your blessings? What other positive results can come from negative situations?
5. How did you feel about Hauptmann Braun initially? Did your feelings change as the story progressed? Did his actions surprise you? Why or why not?
6. In chapter 5, Brigitte asks Father Eppinette if there is a place for one like her. Have you ever asked that question for yourself, or had someone else ask you that question? How did you or would you answer? What did you think of Tom’s response in chapter 17?
7. Clemmie is a grandmotherly woman who does what she can to help those who cross her path, ultimately at the cost of her own life. Have you ever known anyone like Clemmie? Have you ever had the opportunity to put your beliefs to the test, at the risk of losing something dear to you? How did you react, or how do you think you would react in such a situation?
8. Rafael believes that the more a person fears losing control, the more he or she tries to take control. Where do you see examples of this in the story? How have you seen this play out in your own life or in the life of someone you know?
9. Madame Bouvier has a sign in her shop saying she will not serve Jews. And yet she personally rescued several Jewish people from the Nazis. Do you think the sign is just a front, or is Madame Bouvier truly conflicted in this area? What are some moral or political issues that Christians find themselves struggling with today? What issues do you personally struggle with? How do you go about resolving these conflicts in your own life?
10. Near the end of chapter 5, Madame Bouvier recalls Father Chaillet’s words: “Acts of repentance will not lead to the mercy you seek, but mercy will lead to acts of repentance. God has mercy on you, child. . . . I give you one thing to do: only believe. Redemption will follow.” What did this mean to you? How do you think this changed Madame Bouvier’s life?
11. At different points in the story, both Braun and Michel warn about the danger of revenge. At one point, Michel tells Tom that revenge as a motive is not strong enough. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
12. Though Krista Hegel is not able to openly share her Christian faith with the prisoners who are being interrogated, in what ways does she clearly represent Christ? How do you think you would have responded in such a situation?
13. In chapter 21, the waiter Guillemot says that “people come forward to show who they are in war.” What examples of that did you see throughout the story? How could the same principle apply in other situations (not necessarily times of war)?
14. Who was your favorite character in the story and why?
15. At the end of the book, Brigitte has a wish list of happy endings for various people in the story. How many of them do you think are realistic? How important is a happy ending to you when you are reading a novel?
