Chateau of Secrets: A Novel (43 page)

“It’s like a time capsule,” I whispered in awe.

Riley swept the room with the lens of his camera and then he zoomed in on me. “How long do you think it’s been since someone was down here?”

“Probably when my grandparents hid my father and the other orphans. Seventy years ago.”

I leaned down and picked up what looked like a wallet. Inside was an identity card for Michel Duchant and I stared at the look of abandonment in my uncle’s eyes, the windblown hair that he hadn’t bothered to comb. Behind the card was a slip of paper, folded in half, addressed to Lisette Calvez. I smiled. Perhaps my uncle had loved Lisette as much as she had loved him.

I stuck the note in my pocket to take up to Lisette.

In front of Riley and me, the tunnel had caved in, from the impact of a bomb I assumed. Where it led I might never know, but here I felt my grandmother’s presence, her passion and purpose, to rescue when the enemy was determined to destroy.

I followed Riley up the steps, and when we got back into the nave, I found a broom and began to sweep the floor. When I looked up, he was watching me. “What?” I asked.

“You may not be a Duchant by blood, but you have the heart of your grandmother.” He stepped closer to me, and my stomach fluttered again as it seemed to do these days whenever he drew near. He glanced over at Saint Michel and then at the stained glass glowing against the gray walls. “This would be the perfect place for a wedding, don’t you think?”

I tilted my head. “Are you planning to get married?”

“Only if you’ll marry me.”

Riley pulled me close to him and kissed me with the tenderest of desire, as if he feared he might hurt me. And I kissed him back.

In the past months, God hadn’t given me what I thought I wanted. Instead he’d given me exactly what I needed—a man who loved me and a daughter I adored, hope for the future and a peace that settled deep in my soul. And He’d blessed me with the gift of my family’s story.

As Riley held me in his arms, I glanced back up one more time at Saint Michel and his defeated dragon.

Mémé’s story was finished at the Château d’Epines—the château of thorns—but the Duchant family legacy, I prayed, would live on in the children of France.

On a rainy evening in March, I wandered alone through the halls of an old mausoleum in Normandy. While visitors swarmed the white crosses above Omaha Beach, honoring the lives of courageous Americans, the German cemetery was a lonely, grim memorial to twelve thousand Nazi soldiers who’d died on French soil.

It was curious to me that the French people chose to honor their enemy with this beautiful plot, set on a hill overlooking the island of Mont Saint-Michel and the English Channel, but during my visit to France I learned something new, something the French know well. While many of the German soldiers chose to battle for the Third Reich, others were forced to fight for a madman, like those French citizens forced to make weapons for Germany and the Russian prisoners forced to build roads.

As I stood in that eerie place, reading the epitaphs of soldiers as young as sixteen, I wondered who among them had been trapped in the German army. And who were the Jewish soldiers who fought and died for Hitler, believing that by joining the Wehrmacht they could protect themselves or someone they loved?

Until I began researching this novel, I had no idea that so many men of Jewish descent were in the Wehrmacht. No one knows the exact number—many of these men probably took this secret to their grave—but
Bryan Mark Rigg in
Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers
estimates that 150,000 Mischlinge fought during World War II. He interviewed a number of these men in recent years. Some of their stories were courageous, others cowardly, but all of their stories fascinated me.

The past slowly may be forgiven in France, but it will not be forgotten. What Hitler and his fellow Nazis did to the people of France was evil. Seventy-six thousand Jews were deported from France during World War II, eight thousand of those children. Only 3 percent of those “sent east” returned home. Horrific . . .

While visiting France, I heard stories about the Germans who occupied France for four years and I heard the stories of the resilient French people who chose to resist them. Thousands of men and women, conflicted in their hearts, stood against evil and sacrificed their lives so others could live. Some were shot. Others sent to concentration camps. Many of them refused to talk about their service even after the war.

This novel is loosely based on the life of one such heroine—a noblewoman named Genevieve Marie Josephe de Saint Pern Menke. Genevieve was raised in a medieval château outside Saint-Lô called Château d’Agneaux. The tunnels under the de Saint Pern home are no longer accessible, but the stories of her heroism are being passed down through generations of Menkes.

As a young woman, Genevieve rescued Allied airmen and volunteered for the French Red Cross as a driver and medic. She was awarded two Croix de Guerre medals for bravery in war—the first one for courageously telling a German officer that “an honorable man would not kill innocent people” and then successfully negotiating the release of the villagers in Germolles from execution by firing squad.

Genevieve married an American officer and moved to the United States after the war though she returned often to France.
She passed away in 2010, but her legacy of courage and kindness continues on through her children and grandchildren. I hope this glimpse into her story and the stories of so many other heroic men and women during World War II inspires you as much as it has inspired me.

Thank you to the entire Menke family for gifting me with Genevieve’s remarkable story. To Kellee Menke Hernandez, who first told me about her beloved grandmother, and her parents, Doug and Ann Menke, who graciously answered my many questions, shared their favorite memories of Genevieve, and critiqued my rough manuscripts—I am so grateful for all of you. To both Darwin and Emmanuelle Menke for their hospitality—I loved spending time with your family, overlooking the lights of Paris. To Liz Menke for helping me navigate the French language, and to Anthony (Tony) “Yany” Menke, the oldest of the five Menke boys, for sharing the memories of his mother as well as educating me on the landed aristocracy in France. And a huge thank you to Herman Menke, an American lieutenant who fell in love with a French noblewoman seventy years ago and moved from Washington State to France with her in their twilight years. Herman asked me to portray the marvelous things his wife did in this novel, and I hope I have given her the honor she greatly deserves.

Thank you to my agent, Natasha Kern, for her enthusiasm for this story, and to my wonderful editor, Beth Adams, for all her wisdom in helping me build it. To my dear friend and sister Ann Menke, who invited me to spend an unforgettable week at her
family’s
manoir
and shared her love of Normandy with me. To my other “sistas”—Orlena Ballard and Mary Kay Taylor—who ventured to France with us and ended up stranded in a spring blizzard. Thank you for your flexibility and laughter, and for rescuing me when I got trapped behind the barbed wire on the Norman coast . . . Apparently “
sortie de secours
” does not mean “exit to the beach.”

To my new French friends who shared their heroic stories with humility: Serge and Marie Charlotte Letourneur, the daughter and son-in-law of leaders in the French Resistance, thank you for welcoming us into your home and sharing both your stories and the pieces of an Allied parachute found after D-Day—I will treasure our day together. Jean (“Bobby”) Veuillye for sharing your love for America with us and your childhood memories of the war. And Monique Lopez, who welcomed Darwin, Ann, and me with a warm heart and a kiss on each cheek. She remembered well the German occupation, but those memories were too painful for her to share.

To Martha DeLong for sending me her father’s stories about fighting in France. George Edick passed away while I wrote this novel, but his legacy lives on . . .

To six amazing ladies who journey with me through every manuscript—Michele Heath, Nicole Miller, Leslie Gould, Dawn Shipman, Kimberly Felton, and Kelly Chang. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate each one of you! To Julie White, my longtime friend and elementary schoolteacher extraordinaire—thank you so much for sharing with me the many reasons you love teaching. To Lyn Beroth and Paul and Sheila Herbert for their gracious help with the authenticity of European birth and marriage certificates. To Sean and Adam at the Hillside House for the peaceful retreat and for spoiling me as I worked on this book.

Thank you to my family and friends for their consistent prayers and support, and my dad, Jim Beroth, who flew out to Portland to help care for my girls while I was in France. And thank you to my husband, Jon, for his love and encouragement, and our sweet daughters—Karlyn and Kinzel—for cheering me on. I am so blessed by each one of you.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.

—REVELATION 21:4

Thank you most of all to our Savior, Jesus Christ, for His promise that one day all things evil will be destroyed.

Melanie Dobson

Gisèle is a young noblewoman whose world changes abruptly when German invaders bomb her hometown of Saint-Lô. Her beautiful home, the Château d’Epines, becomes the local headquarters for German officers. What no one else knows but her is that underneath the château are winding tunnels where her brother and fellow French Resistance fighters hide. Secrets abound within her heart, the walls of the château, and the snaking tunnels underneath.

Gisèle’s granddaughter, Chloe, lives a life far removed from the times of war that her grandmother endured. After calling off her engagement to a prominent political candidate, Chloe agrees to participate in a documentary featuring her family history and the château in Normandy. She is surprised to learn that the documentary filmmaker, Riley, is interested in uncovering the story of Jews who served in Hitler’s army. How would that relate to her family? And she is even more shocked to learn that there are tunnels under the Château d’Epines that saved lives.

As Chloe follows Riley on the documentary journey, she discovers secrets held by both her grandmother and the château that encompass profound depths of love, loyalty, and sacrifice entwining their generations.

1. The idea of secrets is introduced early in the novel. Gisèle considers the following question:
“When did a secret cross over the gray wasteland between protecting one you loved and destroying him”?
In what ways did Gisèle’s secrets protect the ones she loved? In what ways did Gisèle’s secrets harm or cost the ones she loved, such as Lisette or even herself? How have you seen a secret destroy?

2. Initially, Chloe is engaged to marry Austin. Chloe acknowledges that she has lost herself in this relationship though,
“Somewhere along the line, I’d forgotten exactly who I was, silhouetted by those with greater dreams than my own.”
How do Chloe’s romantic choices and consequences compare and contrast to Gisèle’s, both in her refusal of Philippe and in her love for Josef? How does each woman’s choice affect her identity?

3. The events surrounding Gisèle’s young adult life differ drastically from those that surround Chloe’s. Different generations experience diverging degrees of luxuries, experiences, hardships, and upbringings that define their thresholds of “norm” and pain. How do you think someone from Gisèle’s generation views those of today’s generation? How have you judged someone in an older generation? What have they faced that you have not?

4. In an eloquent comment on World War II, Gisèle says,
“Hatred, it seemed, was a powerful unifier of even the greatest enemies. Hatred for the Nazis had also unified those resisting them.”
Love is also a powerful unifier, seen in Josef’s desire to protect his mother and those who sacrificed their lives to protect Adeline. Describe how you have experienced the unifying power of both hatred and love.

5. After witnessing members of the resistance being shot to death, Gisèle thinks twice about being able to fight the Germans.
“She might not be able to fight the dragon, but perhaps she could rescue this boy.”
How do you see Gisèle continue to “fight the dragon” against the Germans even after she thinks this to herself? Describe an experience in your life that despite its trauma, you continued fighting the dragons.

6. When the Germans come to live at the Château d’Epines, Gisèle asks herself,
“Should she stand for all that was good and refuse them, even if it cost her her life? Or should she compromise her morals to save her life—and the lives of those in her care”
? What decision would you have made if you were in her shoes? Why? Describe an experience in your life when you felt judged by others for making a decision that seemed the lesser of two evils.

7. In Chapter 30, Chloe tells her dad about finding Gisèle’s marriage certificate and Adeline’s birth certificate. How do you think this made him feel? Describe a time when you learned a secret that impacted or involved others. How did it make you feel?

8. Gisèle wrestles with the biblical command to
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
When was she supposed to love her enemy and when was she supposed
to resist? And somehow, in the great mystery of faith, was it possible for her to do both? Do you think Gisèle did both? Explain. Do you think it is possible to do both in the Christian faith? Have you ever received love from a perceived enemy or prayed for an enemy? Describe the situation.

9. Riley tells Chloe,
“It tells a lot about a person when you find out what or who they’re willing to die for.”
In light of this statement, how would you describe and characterize Josef? Do you think Josef or Gisèle went too far to protect those they loved? How do you personally draw the line between protecting, serving, or loving others against sacrificing too much of yourself?