‘Hell is a place in our hearts. To stop ourselves from having to feel it, out of our hearts we foist it onto the world.’
1304. A wave of religious persecution is about to engulf France.
In Valenciennes, beguine Marguerite Porete has authored a daring book. Banned by the bishop from spreading her teaching, she cannot abandon the distressed souls who need to hear how passionately God loves them.
In Paris, Dominican Guillaume Humbert has risen to the rank of Royal Confessor. Manoeuvred by the king into position as Inquisitor for France, Guillaume instigates the brutal arrests of the Knights Templar which earns him the pope’s wrath.
Into this politico-religious ferment steps Marguerite and her Mirror of Simple Souls. Her sole defence against the charge of heresy is her faith in the God of Love who embraces Hell for the sake of the lost.
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Following in the footsteps of his father and brothers, Maxi attends the Military Training School of the Royal Hungarian Forces. He expects to become an officer in the Hussars.
Unexpectedly, on the eve of his 17th birthday, he is given a week's leave. It's the first time he has spent his birthday at home for seven years. He doesn't know it will be the last.
It is October, 1944. After several years as Germany's ally, Hungary is occupied by the Nazi regime and Hitler has commanded that every male in the Third Reich over the age of 16 must fight. With the US and British armies advancing from the West and the Red Army closing in from the East, Maxi and his friends will be forced to flee across Poland and Germany. They will be pursued not only by the SS, but by the freezing weather and starvation.
Based on my father's memoirs, this is the story of their incredible escape to freedom.