Alphonse

1916. Année terrible. Entre la bataille de Verdun et l'offensive de la Somme, le soldat Alphonse obtient une permission pour retourner dans la ferme familiale, loin du front, au doux soleil de Provence. Alphonse est un homme simple. Il appartient au « grand troupeau » des paysans arrachés à leur terre pour être enterrés dans les tranchées. Alphonse a souffert en silence de la peur, de la solitude, de l'abandon, du froid. Durant les trois jours de voyage en train que représente son évacuation du théâtre des opérations militaires vers sa paisible maison, il tente de s'arracher à la fascination de la mort pour épouser à nouveau la vie. Trois jours de transport ferroviaire chaotique qui ressemblent aux trois jours du Christ aux enfers. Vers la résurrection. Vers l'espérance, la paix, la fraternité et l'amour. Avec ce roman bouleversant, Jean Debruynne donne la parole aux martyrs de la Grande Guerre, aux humbles qui vécurent leur chemin de croix au Chemin des dames.

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1916. A horrific year. Between Verdun and the Somme, the soldier Alphonse got leave to go back to his family's farm, far from the front line, in the gentle warmth of his Provencal home. Alphonse is a simple man. He belongs to the 'great flock' of peasants who were torn from their lands and buried in the trenches. Alphonse suffered his fear, his loneliness, his feelings of abandon and even the cold, without saying a word. During that three-day train journey that took him from the military front to the peace of his home, he tried to tear himself away from death's fascination and to embrace life once again. Three days of chaotic travelling on a train - like the three days Christ spent in hell. Toward the Resurrection. Toward hope, peace, fraternity and love. In this poignant novel, Jean Debruynne gives voice to the martyrs of the First World War, to the humble men who each lived his own Way of the Cross. Jean Debruynne is a priest with the Mission de France. An untiring communicator, chaplain to groups of young people and contributor to several newspapers, he is also the author of « Les Racines de la libert? and « En blanc dans le texte » both published by Editions du Cerf.