Publisher's Synopsis
Told in the gentle tone of a fable, Jean-Claude Grumberg's The Most Precious of Cargoes tells the moving story of a woman who wanted a child, and a child who needed a home. It is a story that teaches us that even in the darkest, most violent times, there is reason to believe in people's capacity for kindness.
Once upon a time, in a great forest, there lived a poor woodcutter and his poor wife.
No no no no, don't worry - this isn't Hansel and Gretel! Not at all. I, like you, hate that ridiculous story. When and where have you ever seen parents who - unable to feed their children - abandon them? Let's continue . . .
So over this great forest, a great hunger and a great cold reigned. Particularly in winter. In summer, an overpowering heat forced its way into the wood and chased away the cold. The hunger, on the other hand, was constant, particularly at the time when there raged, around this wood, the world war.
The World War, oh yes yes yes yes yes.
