The Normandy Diary of Marie-Louise Osmont:: 1940-1944

by Marie Louise Osmont

In this extraordinary diary, Marie-Louise Osmont describes in riveting detail what life was like from the moment six German soldiers arrived at the door of her chateau in 1940, through the occupation of her home and country by both Axis and Allied troops. She shows us what the occupation and invasion of Normandy was like for those whose homeland became a momentous battlefield that changed the course of World War II. With gripping immediacy, Madame...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679434380
• ISBN13: 9780679434382
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An Eye-Witness to World War II

Marie-Louise Osmont was the spirit of France in World War I and World War II. As a young nurse in World War I, she drove an ambulance, worked in a field hospital, and met her love a physician from Normandy. Marie-Louise moved to Normandy into a large Chateau in Periers. When the Germans overtook France in 1940, they tried to take over Marie-Louise's land and chateau, but she did not leave. Germans and later British used the chateau, but Marie-Louise remained. All the time that her home was being occupied by the Germans and the British, Marie-Louise kept a diary of the events. In fact, she even made a glossary of French-German words. Her favorite seemed to be "nix". In the end, Marie-Louise would "Nix" the whole of the war and return to her chateau fully. She gives wonderful details from the Masses she attended, the songs that were sung, and the general outlook of the Germans as they saw their 1000 year Reich fall. An outstanding first-hand account of World War II in France.