Pied Piper (novel)

The story concerns a 70-year-old Englishman, John Sidney Howard, who goes on a fishing holiday in Jura, France partly to recover from grief at the loss of his son during the Battle of the Heligoland Bight.While delayed in Dijon by the sudden illness of one of the children, he accepts a request by one of the hotel maids to also take her young niece to safety in England where the child's father is working.Along the way he is overtaken by events and turns for help to some acquaintances in Chartres whom he barely knows, but remembers from a skiing holiday he took with his son, some years before.He is accused of being a spy and threatened with death by the Gestapo, but in a final plot twist, the German commandant secretly allows Howard and the children to sail to England on the condition that they take his niece with them and send her to her uncle in the United States.The boat trip from France to England is successful and, ultimately, all the children are repatriated to the USA where they are cared for by Howard's daughter.
First edition cover ( William Morrow )
Pied Piper (disambiguation)William MorrowNevil ShuteGerman folk taleThe Pied Piper of HamelinBattle of the Heligoland BightSecond World WarNazi Germaninvade FranceChartresBrittanyGestapoplot twistflashbackLondon clubthe Blitzmade-for-televisionMonty WoolleyPeter O'TooleFaded PageStephen MorrisMarazanSo DisdainedLonely RoadRuined CityWhat Happened to the CorbettsAn Old CaptivityMost SecretPastoralVinland the GoodThe Chequer BoardNo HighwayA Town Like AliceRound the BendThe Far CountryIn the WetRequiem for a WrenBeyond the Black StumpOn the BeachThe Rainbow and the RoseTrustee from the ToolroomThe SeafarersWorld War II