A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France

In January 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance were sent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied their country. This is their story, told in full for the first time—a searing and unforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the power of friendship. Caroline Moorehead, a distinguished biographer, human rights journalist, and the author of Dancing to the Precipice and Human Cargo, brings to life an extraordinary story that readers of Mitchell Zuckoff’s Lost in Shangri-La, Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, and Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken will find an essential addition to our retelling of the history of World War II—a riveting, rediscovered story of courageous women who sacrificed everything to combat the march of evil across the world.

They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled "V" for victory on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers.

Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie.

In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France.

A Train in Winter draws on interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary people, of bravery and survival—and of the remarkable, enduring power of female friendship.

“A necessary book. . . . Compelling and moving. . . . The literature of wartime France and the Holocaust is by now so vast as to confound the imagination, but when a book as good as this comes along, we are reminded that there is always room for something new.” - Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

“Remarkable.” - Eric Herschthal, The Jewish Week

“The first complete account of these extraordinary women and, incredibly, over 60 years later we are still learning new and terrible truths about the Holocaust. . . . Moorehead’s group portrait offers an important new perspective not only on the suffering and courage of those in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, but of the complex French response to the German occupation Careful research and sensitive retelling.” - Buzzy Jackson, Boston Sunday Globe

“A compelling account of human suffering and courage in the face of appalling brutality. And by the careful use of detail, and an almost obsessive curiosity, Ms. Moorehead has succeeded in frustrating one of the main aims of the Nazis’ . . . the memory of ‘le Convoi des 3100’ has not disappeared.” - Patrick Marnham, Wall Street Journal

“An extremely moving and intensely personal history of the Auschwitz universe as experienced by these women. . . . A powerful and moving book.” - Natasha Lehrer, Times Literary Supplement (UK)

“Journalist and renowned biographer Caroline Moorehead weaves together first person accounts including interviews, diaries, letters, and photographs, creating a chorus of women’s voices whose stories may never have been told so clearly before now. . . . Her narrative seamlessly comes together in order to share a significant part of history whose time has come to be heard.” - Christian Science Monitor

“[A] moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read.” - Meredith Maran, People (3½ stars)

“Sixty-seven years later, with all the information we have, new stories from World War II still have the power to stun—leaving you overwhelmed by the simultaneous awareness of evil and of miraculous human courage, and by terror and pity—the two ancient emotions that tragedy awakens in the human soul. . . . Compassionate, meticulous, and compulsively enthralling. . . . This fine book is essential reading.” - Bel Mooney, Daily Mail (UK)

“Contains a wealth of historical information as well as some brilliant if horrific storytelling.” - John Laughland, The Spectator (UK)

“As chronicled by Moorehead with unblinking accuracy, their agonies are appalling to contemplate, their stories of survival and friendship under duress enthralling to hear.” - More magazine

“By turns heartbreaking and inspiring.” - Caroline Weber, New York Times Book Review

“Haunting account of bravery, friendship, and endurance.” - Marie Claire

“[Moorehead] traces the lives and deaths of all her subjects with unswerving candor and compassion. . . . In Moorehead’s telling, neither evil nor good is banal; and if the latter doesn’t always triumph, it certainly inspires.” - USA Today

“Heightened by electrifying, and staggering, detail, Moorehead’s riveting history stands as a luminous testament to the indomitable will to survive and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.” - Booklist (starred review)

“Even history’s darkest moments can be illuminated by spectacular courage, such as courage that Caroline Moorehead movingly celebrates in A Train in Winter. . . . Moorehead has created a somber account, sensitively rendered, of yet another grim legacy of war.” - Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A miraculous story about friendship and the will to overcome extraordinary cruelty, heartache and loss.” - The Jewish Journal, "Best Books of 2011"

“Compelling . . . Moorehead weaves into her suspenseful, detailed narrative myriad personal stories of friendship, courage, and heartbreak.” - Kirkus Reviews