“Papa stood at the gate by the road and waved goodbye.

He wanted me to wave back at him, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Even if I tried, I couldn’t make myself smile and send him off as if he were only going for a simple walk.

Not going to war.”

The novel’s opening introduces the story’s narrator, a young child, and one of the key thematic elements, The Intersection of Historical Events and Individual Lives. What may at first be viewed as a childish tantrum (i.e., refusing to wave as her father is leaving) immediately gives way to a much more dramatic context as he is going to war. This contrast highlights both the narrator’s youth and the story’s narrative stakes.

“I hadn’t seen my father for 657 days. From this exact moment, that is one year, nine months, two weeks, four days, and one hour. That’s how long it had been since I had not waved goodbye. In 657 days, we had not heard anything about him…or from him.”

Throughout the novel, Meg keeps count of the number of days since she last saw her father. This countdown adds tension and conveys her emotional distress and worry about his situation. Narratively speaking, it also provides a clear timeline for the story since the countdown is used as a recurring chapter epigraph.

“From the reports we heard on the radio, we were better off here in the forests of the Perche than in the cities, where they faced a stronger Nazi presence, sharp questions of loyalties, and where hunger, even starvation, was a constant threat.”

This passage introduces some context about Meg’s situation at the beginning of the story. Throughout the novel, the author uses the narrator’s voice to provide information about real historical events and French geography during WWII. These details add credibility to Meg’s story while emphasizing the reality of the time.