Review Tales
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Interviewing ALAIN ROLLAND
What is Six Years of Absence about? It is a historical fiction about a French soldier’s journey through World War II inspired by true events. Alexandre leaves his wife and 3-month-old baby to join his engineer regiment and fights the first battles against the German army on the Eastern front. He is then stationed near the Belgian border and, on his way to Norway, he has to retreat to Dunkirk. After missing the last boat for England, as a prisoner of war, he transits through two camps in Pomerania and ends up working as a forced laborer. After many adventures during five long years of captivity, the Red Army liberates him, and he experiences new ones with the Russian soldiers before returning home.
What was your inspiration to write the book? The novel is inspired by true events and my dad’s odyssey in World War II. During the Covid pandemic, I was sorting through old papers when I stumbled upon a couple of hand-written pages from my dad where he briefly narrated his journey through WWII. Inspired by his story, I decided to write a fiction about the captivating six-year odyssey of a French soldier, Alexandre, from Brittany (France) to Pomerania (now Poland) during World War II.
What is the part of fiction in the book? The novel is true to my dad’s journey through the war, and I really enjoyed retracing his footsteps, searching through documentation, learning about the places he crossed, and the major events of that period. Most of the characters are fictional with intertwined stories – Jean, the erudite joker, Théo the simpleton horse broker, Violette the spinster organist, André the poet miller, Frida the Teutonic bewitcher and her lover Janusz the lame hunchback, Gus the ingenious and facetious escapee, Amadeusz the Francophile hauler, Ben the Texan liberator, Dmitri the Russian soldier and Latin scholar, Marie the madly in love, and many more … Apart from some historical events related in the book, the rest comes from my imagination.
Do you have another book in preparation? Yes, I started writing the novel I always had on my mind, where Dan Brown meets Umberto Ecco and Steve Berry. It is a contemporary thriller based on a formidable secret hidden by a High Priest during the building of the Giza pyramids and an ancient Egyptian ring given to Napoleon. Now a special unit of Interpol is trying to recover these artefacts and protect the world from the terrible menace of a secret masonic organization, DOOM. From the dunes of Saqqara to California, Andalusia and Paris, a frenetic pursuit is engaged. Will the secret of the Sphinx be deciphered in 2025?
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One Comment on “Interviewing ALAIN ROLLAND”
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I wanted to express my gratitude to those of you who have already read my historical novel “SIX YEARS OF ABSENCE” and provided feedback. I appreciate it tremendously!
If you enjoyed the novel inspired by true events and my dad’s journey in WWII, please remember to leave a brief review on Amazon (and/or other sites like Kobo, Apple, Google Play, Barnes & Noble) and keep spreading the word about it. The novel is a testament to courage, resilience, friendship, and love…
I hope that additional readers will find their way to the story of Alexandre in 2025.
Best wishes for 2025!
Alain Rolland
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