The Most Precious of Cargoes

For readers of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief, Jean-Claude Grumberg's haunting fable, an enormous bestseller in his native France, tells a story of the Holocaust and the remarkable acts of kindness of which people are capable.

For readers of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief, Jean-Claude Grumberg’s haunting fable, an enormous bestseller in his native France, tells a story of the Holocaust and the remarkable acts of kindness of which people are capable.

A haunting fable that tells a story of the Holocaust, and the remarkable acts of kindness which people are capable of.

'A magnificent small book to read urgently' – Libération

Once upon a time in an enormous forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife. Around them a war wages, and hunger is a constant companion. Yet every night, the woodcutter's wife prays for a child.

On a train crossing the forest, a Jewish father holds his twin children. His wife no longer has enough milk to feed them. In hopes of saving both their lives, he wraps his daughter in a shawl and gently throws her from the train.

While foraging for food, the woodcutter’s wife finds a bundle, a baby girl wrapped in a shawl. She knows that this little girl will be pursued, but she cannot ignore this gift: she will accept the precious cargo, and raise her as her own. . .

Set against the horrors of the Holocaust and told in a fairytale style, Jean-Claude Grumberg’s The Most Precious of Cargoes is a deeply moving fable about family and redemption. A story that reminds us that humanity can be found in the most inhumane of places.

Translated from French by Frank Wynne.