In Our Strange Gardens

The story begins with the narrator, Michel, a boy who is profoundly embarrassed by his father's 'exquisitely common' nature and his annual ritual of performing as a clown. Seeking to explain this peculiar behavior, the boy's uncle shares a long-held family secret from the time of the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Following an act of resistance, the father and uncle, two brothers, are captured and thrown into a pit with other terrified prisoners and told that one of them will be executed by dawn as an example. In a surprising turn of events, the German guard returns in the middle of the night with an extraordinary proposition, which is revealed to be a clown act performed by the guard, a former circus artist. This event and the ultimate sacrifice made to save the prisoners transforms the father's life. The novel is a fable of revelation, innocence, ignorance, and the complex nature of family and humanity during wartime.

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