Love, Maginot

By: Red and Catherine Rahm

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Love, Maginot presents a story of desire and struggle set in World War Two. The setting is the legendary Maginot Line, which was built to stop all invasions into France. Josette is a former flapper whose party ended ten years before the story. Francois is an opportunist who has never known real responsibility. Pierre is a prodigy, a chef experiencing his first true love. Perhaps the making of an atypical zany sitcom, except the narrative portrays the violence of wartime France. There are cunning spies and military discipline and soldiers who die horribly. Deterred by civic duty and religious faith, a romance develops slowly, honestly, tenderly. Is there a good time to fall in love? Is there ever reason not to fall in love? Josette and Pierre discover each other, while the menace of war builds and destroys France. The authors visited the Maginot Line and had many of their misconceptions erased. American school books still show graphics first printed in London newspapers, diagrams of fortresses with airfield hangers and subway lines for weekend jaunts to Paris -- all wrong. Love, Maginot shows the heroism of the conscripted soldiers, serving generals whose tactics were developed in a different era. Yet, they were not necessarily doomed to fail. The theme of the story seeks not to vilify any governance, nor present a cautionary tale of military spending. The Nazis are bad, but is anyone else in the story truly good? Well, yes they are; there’s goodness in the characters who remain true to life and love.