Huguette

A Novel of Libération

By: Cara Black

Narrated by: Carine Montbertrand

The tense and emotional saga of one resilient young woman’s survival in the lawlessness of post-Libération France, by the New York Times bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc series

August, 1945: Badly traumatized by the last few months of Nazi occupation, orphaned, and pregnant through a story too painful and dangerous to tell, seventeen-year-old Huguette Faure seeks refuge at a convent. Her father, before he was killed by vigilantes, made powerful enemies, and Huguette has a target on her back. But not even when her baby is born does she find peace—and after narrowly avoiding jail time thanks to the kindness of a Parisian police officer, though she feels ready to give up, she instead decides to try for one last chance for a new life. She cashes in one of her father’s IOUs at a film studio on the outskirts of Paris, where she gets a job assisting a legendary film director. Once she goes from helping him with chores to cooking his books, she sees an opportunity to change her fortunes—and to break free from the ghosts of her past once and for all.

Over the next few years of Huguette’s life, she goes from the black market to the film industry, from Paris to Lyon, from child to woman. National and New York Times bestseller Cara Black has been an expert in all things France for decades; now, in her most expansive, emotional work yet, she uses the vessel of Huguette, this enterprising and complex young heroine, to immerse listeners in the harsh reality of life after Libération.

©2025 Cara Black (P)2025 Recorded Books

Great historical fiction inside a mystery

I saw the book recommended by the mystery book critic of the Wall Street Journal and listened twice, The period, immediate post WW II Paris, is fascinating. I checked the story about the American soldiers who went AWOL. Cara Black got the story right. The main characters are well drawn,

Pp

Well researched revealing story about liberation in France post World War II

This was really very enlightening, detailing as few other stories do, the often hard even gruesome details of post-war France. Liberation is an uplifting word, but in the somewhat lawless aftermath of the Germans’ departure, many suffered. I have enjoyed this authors, contemporary detective stories, and one of the characters here hints at being the probable grandfather of the heroine of these contemporary novels. That said, the narrator was difficult to listen to, having a halting delivery that was very distracting. And the plotting was sometimes a bit improbable, but overall I enjoyed it.