{"product_id":"helen-button-carol-roh-spaulding-9798985431780","title":"Helen Button","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Eludia Award from Hidden River Arts.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDaughter of a Collaborationist. Housekeeper to Gertrude Stein. An ordinary woman lives through extraordinary times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this dual timeline narrative, a young French housekeeper lives out the years of World War II near Vichy France with her famous employers, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas. Decades later, she returns to France from the United States, finding that a fateful decision she made as a young woman echoes in the present in unexpected ways.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the years leading to Nazi occupation, young siblings H?l?ne and\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eGuillaume Bouton, reluctant newcomers to the village of Bilignin, France happen upon new friends-their eccentric neighbors Gertrude Stein, and her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas. Dubbed \"Helen Button\" by Stein because she is half-American, H?l?ne-the stepdaughter of a French Vichy officer-grows up in a tense climate of advancing war. In 1939, war begins. H?l?ne, now eighteen years old, returns to France from a visit to the United States. To escape her fretful alcoholic mother and oppressive household, she takes a position as a bonne femme (housekeeper) for Stein and Toklas. When a careless remark by Stein seems to doom a young Jewish boy, Isaiah, brought into safety by the Resistance, H?l?ne's friendship with the couple becomes strained. Increasingly distressed by Gertrude's unusual political affiliations, H?l?ne and her lover, Resistance fighter Milo Fourche, begin to spy on the writer through her work. One night near the war's end, Milo learns the Gestapo plan a brutal attack on a nearby safe house for Jewish children. H?l?ne has the chance to intercept, which could save Isaiah's life, as well. Instead, the consequences of that fateful night will take H?l?ne a lifetime to face down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Carol Roh Spaulding\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798985431780\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Sowilo Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/07\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 322\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.04lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.72d","brand":"Carol Roh Spaulding","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46334402953471,"sku":"9798985431780","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9f24bb87-7cd3-47c2-820b-dcc1a82d4789.jpg?v=1731466739","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/helen-button-carol-roh-spaulding-9798985431780","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}