Yours is the Earth

by Margaret Vail

This is a memoir written by an American woman living in France during WWII---and how she survives with her daughter.

287 pages

First published January 1, 1944

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, even though I think she had an easier time of things during the war because of her affluence and social contacts.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard about this book on a listserv that I subscribe to---it was recommended for being an American's account of WWII under German occupied territory. I searched for the book and found that it was no longer in print---and ordered a used copy from 1944 so that I could read the story. The hunt for the book was worth it--- as it was interesting to read an American's account of the goings on in occupied Europe. I did not care for her writing...as she seemed to a bit separate from reality....but this may just be that she was a "bourgeoise"...and the time period. Some of her observations were quite entertaining...and some quite poignant.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't help but compare and contrast this book with The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (inspired by a true story). Both accounts are well-written, enlightening views of how the German occupation of France affected families. Published in 1944, Yours Is the Earth focuses on the privileged citizenry, The Nightingale on peasants and the working class. The Nightingale benefits from hindsight; Yours Is The Earth has the advantage of first-person authenticity. I definitely benefited from having read The Nightingale beforehand. (Books on the history of World War II also influenced my view of the author's account).

Yours Is the Earth is a detailed first-person account of the author's experience during the German occupation of France. An American living in Paris, Vail is married to Robert, a Frenchman and member of France's landed gentry. They have a young daughter, Rose-Helene. When Robert is called up for military duty--and is later taken as a prisoner of war--Margaret and their daughter first take refuge in his country estate. By and large, she finds the German soldiers polite, gentlemanly, and considerate of French citizens. But Vail is wise enough to know their "correctness" is just a ruse, to influence and endear the French to the German side. As an American ex-pat married to a Frenchman, Vail fears for the safety of herself and her daughter, and she strives to somehow free her husband.

By calling on her various wealthy friends and political connections, Vail ends up traipsing all over France to Morocco, Spain, and Portugal trying to make the best of the situation and somehow bargain for her husband's release. Despite occasional privations, Vail and her largely stays in fine hotels and eats three meals a day. Somehow, Vail manages to get around the labyrinthine rules and regulations imposed on France, sweet-talking and bribing her way past various functionaries and borrowing funds from casual acquaintances and total strangers. Her journey includes walking over the Pyrenees mountains in knee deep snow dressed in street shoes and thin gloves to reach the Spanish frontier. If it wasn't a personal diary, I would be skeptical of its veracity. Nonetheless, her tale shows readers how the war affected nonJewish people of wealth and privilege in Europe.

In comparison, The Nightingale--a work of fiction inspired by actual persons and events--shows a more stark view of the brutality imposed by oft-sadistic Germans on average French citizens. Like Vail, Vianne's husband is conscripted into the army and taken prisoner. She too has a young daughter, and her home is billeted by German soldiers. And like everyone, she suffers food privations. But Vianne is physically and sexually abused by one of the officers and suffers severely.

Meanwhile, Vianne's sister Isabella joins the resistance and guides downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain, while being hunted by the Nazis--a far more perilous undertaking than Vail's trek across the mountain range.

To sum up: Compared to the two sisters' struggle for survival in The Nightingale, Vail's privations and injustices--though real--are mild. I felt myself judging her as arrogant, self-centered, reckless, and foolish. If read in a vacuum, the book would have impressed me differently.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been reading Grandma’s books lately and this is by far the best. A memoir of a young American woman and her daughter in occupied France during WW2. With her Parisian husband in a German jail, she is left to navigate travel within France, food rationing, etc. Just a simple, poignant depiction of what her world felt like during a trying time in world’s history. Good stuff, if you can find it.

[Marsha R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing good but the lady at times can come off as very entitled and a bit of a narcissist. Basically a story how war effects the rich.