Elizabeth Musser writes “entertainment with a soul” from her writing chalet (a toolshed) outside Lyon, France. A Carol Award winner and Christy Award and Georgia Author of the Year finalist, Elizabeth’s critically acclaimed novels have been translated into multiple languages and have been international bestsellers. The Swan House was named one of Georgia’s Top Ten Novels of the Past 100 Years. By Way of the Moonlight was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Pick in Religion and Spirituality. Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have worked with the nonprofit One Collective for over forty years.
Elizabeth’s new WWII novel, From the Valley We Rise, is based on a lot of research into the interactions between the French people and Jewish children during the war. She shares some of the greatest influences to her writing in this interview.
FF: Can you please provide a brief summary of your novel, From the Valley We Rise?
Summer 1944, Sisteron, France | After Isabelle Seauve’s father dies to protect her activities in the French Resistance, Isabelle is heartbroken yet even more determined to continue her work hiding Jewish children in and near the town of Sisteron, especially now that she knows there’s a traitor among the local Resistance.
As the shadow of betrayal looms, Isabelle’s world collides with that of US Army Chaplain Peter Christensen, who carries the emotional scars of his service in North Africa as well as deep wounds from a tragedy in his first pastorate in Kentucky. Amid the chaos, fifteen-year-old René Amblard narrowly escapes a devastating German attack that claims the lives of his mother and their fellow Maquis fighters. With an orphaned Jewish girl at his side, René seeks out his cousin Isabelle for refuge. As bombs begin to fall, this unlikely group of heroes face the brutal reality of war as the Allied invasion of Provence unfolds. Can they find freedom in their souls as they seek to rebuild what has been destroyed?
FF: How does your experience living in France inform the historical and cultural details in your novel?
Setting is always an important part of my novels. Living in France, I was able to visit Sisteron, the city where much of the novel takes place. I toured the city’s formidable Citadel, wandered along the Durance River and meandered through the andrones (you’ll have to read the novel to know what these are.) I also visited the nearby town of Les Mées and was awestruck by the beauty and uniqueness of the Penitent cliffs. When I learned of the legends of the cliffs, I knew they would be a central part of the story.
FF: The story takes place in Provence. Why did you choose this specific region of France?
My first interest started way back in 1983 when my teammates and I, newly arrived in France, took a group of college-aged Americans to a village near Sisteron called Entrepierres, where we spent two weeks lifting stones and digging ditches to help build back this dilapidated village. Heading up the work project was a visionary British missionary who lifted his hands to the sky and challenged us in our thoughts about faith, work, and love. His vision, which became a reality, was to create a retreat center for full-time French pastors and missionaries. God has mightily used Entrepierres, the real name of The Camp Between the Hills, and I knew it needed a central part in my story, although I move its timeline back into the 1930s and 40s.
A few years ago, I ventured to Entrepierres for a week-long debrief. While there, I visited Sisteron and learned of the bombing of the city on August 15, 1944. That piqued my interest, since I like to include little-known parts of history in my novels. Although I’ve lived in France for over 35 years, I had heard very little about Operation Dragoon and the Allied invasion of Provence during World War II. And so my research deepened.
FF: The French Resistance plays a central role in your novel. What inspired you to explore this aspect of World War II?
While I knew little about Operation Dragoon, I’ve been fascinated by the courage of those in the French Resistance for many years. My family moved to Lyon in 2003, and I learned a lot about the role the Resistance played in this city as I researched for my novel Searching for Eternity. It never gets old to tell stories of ordinary citizens who display extraordinary courage in the face of danger and tragedy.
FF: Tell us about the research involved in accurately portraying both the Resistance movement and the plight of Jewish children in hiding.
There is a wealth of information available in books, online, and in documentaries, but my first interest came from hearing stories about how a pastor in the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, along with many of the town’s residents, helped shield Jewish children and other vulnerable people from the Germans. The operation saved the lives of thousands of refugees, including about 5,000 Jews.
Another source of research came from the movie Au Revoir Les Enfants (Good-bye Children), a French classic that is based on events in the childhood of the director, Louis Malle. As a boy he attended a Roman Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. One day, he witnessed a Gestapo raid in which three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz.
Finally, the Martin Network in my story is loosely based on several real networks in France that rescued Jewish children. In my research, those who headed up the rescues never spoke about their service or work for 50 years. The 2024 movie One Life starring Anthony Hopkins is an accurate portrayal of one of these networks. For the plot and timeline in the novel, I brought the children, families, and rescuers together at the end of the novel after 10 years.
FF: Your story features multiple perspectives, including that of a young teenager. Why did you choose to include René’s viewpoint?
René’s POV was the first one I began fleshing out. As I researched the Resistance and the Maquis in and around Sisteron, I found the story of a boy who was the lone survivor of an attack by hundreds of Germans on a farmhouse. I immediately wanted to know more about René and what motivated him after surviving such a horrible event. I also raised two sons and have a preteen grandson. I really enjoy delving into the personalities of boys.
FF: The theme of finding “freedom in their souls” is prevalent throughout the novel. Can you elaborate on this spiritual aspect?
One character in the book says, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” I wanted to explore that theme, especially in war, when ordinary people are thrown into impossible situations and forced to make decisions. The Bible is filled with examples of building back what has been broken. I wanted my characters to struggle with that spiritual need even as they had the real-life physical example of using old stones to build back the village at The Camp Between the Hills. All the main characters must learn to forgive themselves so that they deepen their trust in God despite tragedy and mistakes and betrayal.
FF: Your book deals with heavy themes of sacrifice and loss. How do you balance these with hope and faith?
I am inspired by the true stories of individuals who risked their lives for the sake of the persecuted and never wanted any recognition for their acts of bravery, kindness, resistance, and courage. Truth is stranger than fiction. Truth is also more beautiful than fiction when viewed through the lens of faith in a God who is in the business of healing and bringing beauty from ashes. The real-life village of Entrepierres is a testimony to all the beauty and healing that can come as broken things are restored.
FF: Running throughout the novel is that message of hope: for the war to end, for restoration of villages and relationships, for redemption. What message do you hope readerstake away from From the Valley We Rise?
Mistakes aren’t the end of the story. Let us not forget the sacrifice of others lest we repeat the same things. Broken things can be rebuilt. Redemption is possible.
FF: What are you working on next?
My next novel takes readers to Atlanta during and after the Winecoff Hotel Fire in 1946 and in the preparations for the Olympics in Atlanta 1996.
Life can change in the blink of an eye, in a fire, in a fight, in a cruel word or a kind one. One decision can change the whole course of your life. And you can make the wrong decisions. But there’s always hope for life on the other side.
~~~
From the Valley We Rise
Elizabeth Musser
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Genre: Historical
Release Date: June 3, 2025
Available Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
ISBN-10: 0764243497
ISBN-13: 978-0764243493
Book Summary:
In WWII France, Isabelle Seauve is dedicated to risking her safety for the protection of Jewish children. As a US Army Chaplain, a teenage rebel, and a Jewish orphan join her ranks and face increasing danger during the Allied invasion of Provence, these unlikely heroes must first find freedom in their souls before they can rebuild what has been destroyed.
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