Overview

Based on interviews with family members, former associates, prominent historians, and never-before-seen papers written by Geneviève de Gaulle, The General's Niece is the first English-language biography of Charles de Gaulle's niece and daughter-figure, Geneviève.  Journalist Paige Bowers leads readers through the remarkable life of this young woman who risked death to become one of the most devoted foot soldiers of the French Resistance. Beginning with small acts of defiance, she eventually ferried arms and false transit letters to fellow résistants and distributed the nation's largest underground newspaper, until she was finally arrested and sent to the infamous Ravensbrück concentration camp. The General's Niece reveals the horrors the young de Gaulle witnessed and endured there that could have broken her spirit, but instead inspired her many remaining years of activism on behalf of former prisoners. Bowers details de Gaulle's later years, during which she continued to stand up for what was humane and just, participating in campaigns to help France's neediest citizens and to force the Germans to pay restitution to a group of Polish women on whom the Nazis had performed crippling experiments at Ravensbrück. 

Reviews

"Paige Bowers is an emerging talent in narrative nonfiction/history, an intellectually curious reporter who has the ability to tell rich, well-researched stories about some of history's most fascinating people and events."  —Aminda Marques Gonzalez, executive editor of Miami Herald, member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, and former Miami bureau chief of People

"This is such an inspiring story, written with clarity and conviction. Paige Bowers's excellent biography reveals Geneviève de Gaulle as one of the bravest and most dignified among young French resisters. At last, women who resisted the Nazis in France are being given the long-overdue recognition they deserve." —Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes

"At once exhilarating and heartbreaking, captivating and horrifying, Bowers's account of Geneviève de Gaulle's journey from cautious defiance to full-blown resistance operative, through the horror of a concentration camp, to the even longer fight for a modern, egalitarian France is a timely, much-needed story of patriotism, courage, and the all-too-often ignored role of women in twentieth-century history." —Bill Lascher, author of Eve of a Hundred Midnights

"This stirring biography is a worthy epitaph for a woman who passionately believed that France should never forget its cherished values of justice and fraternity." —Ronald C. Rosbottom, author of When Paris Went Dark

"Paige Bowers delivers a story that is alternately pulse pounding and heart wrenching. With elegant style, Bowers gives Geneviève de Gaulle an independent identity, restoring her to her proper place in history." —Theresa Kaminski, author of Angels of the Underground

"A resistance fighter deported to Ravensbrück, Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz maintained her sanity through solidarity with her fellow female prisoners. After her return to France, she exorcised the psychological scars of her internment by dedicating herself to working with the unjustly marginalized. This book reminds one that a compassionate humanity is possible even in the face of unimaginable brutality. The General's Niece is essential reading." —Rosemary Sullivan, author of Stalin's Daughter

"An important and accessible addition to the always popular WWII history collection." —Booklist

Author Biography

Paige Bowers is a news and features writer whose work has appeared in TIME, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, People, Allure, and Glamour, among other outlets. A lifelong Francophile, she earned a master's degree in modern European history in 2012 and teaches continuing education classes at Louisiana State University about French history and culture. She lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.