Transgression

A new novel by the bestselling author of Midnight Cab

In 1946, a little girl finds a severed finger in a Canadian field. It points to a grisly crime that occurred nearby. It also points to the past, to the harrowing events in the life of a young French woman, Adele Georges, in war-torn Rouen.

When Adele’s beloved father is captured by the German forces, she makes inquiries at the local authorities. A German soldier, 19 years old and far from home, tries to help her navigate the bureaucracy. Love grows across the enemy lines, with devastating consequences.

Adele, a seamstress in a factory, is exposed as a “horizontal collaborator” and tortured with other women in the town square. Her lover Manfred has been transferred, and Adele, abandoned by her family, her head shaven, is alone.

Despairing that Manfred has been killed, Adele yields to the protective embrace of a Canadian soldier who marries her and brings her home as a war bride to his small town. He too is scarred by war and twisted by the turmoil of reentry. Adele, stranded on foreign shores, harboring her shameful secret of consorting with the enemy, is terrified of being unmasked.

When Manfred reappears, trying to recapture their youthful love, everyone is tested with deadly consequences. Yet, redemption, truth and renewal are also possible.

James Nichol also is a distinguished playwright and screenwriter whose work has been widely performed. He lives in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.