Brigadier Frederick; and, The Dean's Watch

"Brigadier Frederick and The Dean's Watch" by Erckmann-Chatrian is a book where we find ourselves in the calm world of Father Frederick, a woodsman, who looks back at his life in the peaceful Alsace region. He remembers the love he felt for his family, especially his daughter, Marie-Rose, plus the strong ties he had with his neighbors; but this peace starts to break when war clouds start to form on the horizon and he sees that his rural life will never be the same. As Frederick deals with the hardships of war, his story shows us the impact war has on common people and makes us think about what it means to be human, while also highlighting the joy that he experienced prior to everything changing.