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With The Statement, Moore surpasses all of his previous efforts in a long career marked by immense acclaim.
Set in the south of France and in Paris during the early 1990s, The Statment is the tale of Pierre Brossard, now seventy years old, who has spent the better part of a his life in hiding, travelling between the monasteries and abbeys that offer him asylum.
Brossard is a former officer in the pro-Fascist militia which served Vichy in its most shameful aspect, and a murderer of Jews. He has evaded capture for decades with the help of the French government and the Catholic Church. Now, though, a new breed of government officials is determined to break decades of silence and expose and expiate the crimes of Vichy. The powers that have always protected Brossard begin to view him as a dangerous liability and set about with cold calculation to eliminate the threat that he represents.
The erosion of Brossard's support comes at a perilous time, for a series of assassins has been stalking him. Years of living underground have sharpened his senses, and so far, he has managed to elude, and exterminate, each of the assassins sent to avenge his victims. Still, his world shrinks.
Based on the real-life case of Paul Touvier, A French war criminal who was also long protected by Church and government officials, The Statement comes at a time when France is at last willing to examine its role in Nazi genocide. This novel combines profound moral questions with flawless plotting and breathless suspense to devastating effect. It is, with certainty, Brian Moore's finest work to date.
Brian Moore is the author of No Other Life, Lies of Silence, The Color of Blood, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, and thirteen other novels, five of which have been made into films. Three times shortlisted for Britain's Booker Prize, he now lives in Malibu, California, and Nova Scotia.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.