The Most Precious of Cargoes : A Fable of the Holocaust

For readers of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief, Jean-Claude Grumberg’s haunting fable, an enormous bestseller in his native France, tells a story of the Holocaust and the remarkable acts of kindness of which people are capable.

<p><b>A haunting fable that tells a story of the Holocaust, and the remarkable acts of kindness which people are capable of.<br><br>'A magnificent small book to read urgently' &ndash; </b><b><i>Libération</i></b><br><br>Once upon a time in an enormous forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife. Around them a war wages, and hunger is a constant companion. Yet every night, the woodcutter's wife prays for a child.<br><br>On a train crossing the forest, a Jewish father holds his twin children. His wife no longer has enough milk to feed them. In hopes of saving both their lives, he wraps his daughter in a shawl and gently throws her from the train.<br><br>While foraging for food, the woodcutter&rsquo;s wife finds a bundle, a baby girl wrapped in a shawl. She knows that this little girl will be pursued, but she cannot ignore this gift: she will accept the precious cargo, and raise her as her own. . .<br><br><b>Set against the horrors of the Holocaust and told in a fairytale style, Jean-Claude Grumberg&rsquo;s <i>The Most Precious of Cargoes </i>is a deeply moving fable about family and redemption. A story that reminds us that humanity can be found in the most inhumane of places.<br><br>Translated from French by Frank Wynne.</b></p>