War Summary
Marguerite Duras

War Summary

The three short narratives that constitute this book were composed as a diary in 1944, during World War II.

Duras says that she does not remember writing them, although she recognizes the handwriting as being her own. The first and longest dramatically tells the story of her activities in the French Resistance and her fear that her husband might be dead. In it she captures the anguish of all women waiting for someone to return from combat or prison. The ring of the telephone is an omen of bad news. Women wait anxiously at train stations for men to return from liberated camps. The Allies are advancing, but the Nazis often kill prisoners rather than allowing them to be liberated. Anxiously her thoughts turn to her husband while her feet take her through Paris. She is sure of the worst. Then one day he is...

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