The Light from the Dark Side of the Moon
A Remembrance of Love in a Time of War
The physical wounds of war may heal,
but the memories can survive for a lifetime.
Overviews of the Book
Notes on the Excerpt Videos
Explore the luminous prose in The Light from the Dark Side of the Moon. Listen while author Norman G. Gautreau reads passages from the novel.
Moonjellies
92-year-old Henry Budge mistakes a surgical lamp for the moon and is carried back 70 years to D-Day when he parachuted into France.
Élodie
“Remembrance of Love in a Time of War.” Henry and Élodie make love for the first time.
Oradour-sur-Glane
Henry relives the horror of a brutal massacre by the Nazis that killed nearly every man, woman and child in the village.
Élodie's Anger
Élodie expresses the great anger she feels towards Hitler and what the Nazis have done.
A Feminine Rain
Henry is soothed by a gentle rain that washes away the stench from Orador-sur-Glane.
Lascaux
Henry and Élodie explore the prehistoric caves of Lascaux.
Evacuation of Paris
This is an excerpt from Élodie's back story when, in June 1940 (4 years before she met Henry Budge), she and her parents escaped Paris in advance of the Germans.
Leaving Aquilac
Henry and Élodie start the journey to guide a group of children fleeing the Holocaust over the Pyrénées to safety.
The Ariège River
Henry describes the journey along the Ariège River towards the Pyrénées.
Broken Faces
Henry watches the copper masks, created for mutilated French veterans from WWI, burn in a barn fire.
Roasted Chestnuts
A kindly man roasts chestnuts for the children that Henry and Élodie are shepherding to safety across the Pyrénées.
Stars
Henry and Élodie watch an extravaganza of stars through holes in a barn's roof.
Thunderstorm
Henry, Élodie, and the children are caught out in a thunderstorm in the Pyrénées.
Waterfall
After having brought the children safely to Spain, Henry and Élodie make love while bathing in a waterfall.
Dreaming of Tahiti
During their time together, Henry and Élodie dream of going to Tahiti after the war.
