''The Foundling's War'' is a 1977 novel by the French writer Michel Déon. Its French title is ''les Vingt ans du jeune homme vert'', which means "the twenty years of the green young man". It is set in occupied Paris during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and follows a young man who grew up as an adoptive child and navigates through the social turmoil around him. The book is the sequel to '' The Foundling Boy'' from 1975, which is set during the interwar period. ''The Foundling's War'' was published by

éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (; formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961) is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Gasto ...

in 1977. An English translation by Julian Evans was published in 2014 through Gallic Books.

Reception

Nancy Kline of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewed the book in 2015, and described it as "a sprawling 19th-century-style novel". Kline questioned the author's sense of humour from a political standpoint, and wrote that " éon'sjokes call his politics into question. ... kes about homosexuals and Jewish noses, especially in the context of the 1940s, are at best in questionable taste. Déon’s prolix, cynical novel, ably translated, may amuse some readers. Others, not."

References

External links

''The Foundling's War''
at the French publisher's website
''The Foundling's War''
at the British publisher's website 1977 French novels Éditions Gallimard books French-language novels Novels by Michel Déon Novels set in Paris Sequel novels Novels set during World War II {{1970s-WWII-novel-stub