In 1944 and 1945, millions of American soldiers took part in the Liberation of France. It was impossible for these GIs, who brought with them freedom, health, and wealth, to avoid fraternizing with French women. Some 6,500 Franco-American marriages would later take place. Many of these women would cross the Atlantic to join their husbands, following the example of their compatriots who had wed doughboys after World War I. This book, a collection of oral histories, tells the story of mademoiselle and the GI by following the destinies of 15 French war brides—three from World War I and 12 from World War II. All of the women encountered cultural shock as they discovered an opulent and open society, but one which was also materialistic and racially segregated. But these women, like the many others who came to America, got on with it and survived. Although about half of the marriages ended in divorce, only about 150 of the women returned to France. Most of them, in their own way, lived the American Dream. Today these women are both French and American. They reflect the image of a successful betrothal between two cultures.
Hilary Kaiser is American by birth and French through marriage. The daughter of a GI who fought in Japan during World War II, she is an Associate Professor at the University of Paris and has done many oral histories of Americans living in Paris. Please read her blog at www.hilarykaiser.wordpress.com.
She is the author of 3 books. "WWII Voices: American GI's and the French Women Who Married Them" (Amazon, Kindle, 2011); "French War Brides in America" (Praeger, 2007), which was first published in French under the title "Des Amours de GIs: les petites françaises du débarquement." (Tallandier, 2004); and "Veteran Recall: Americans in France Remember the War" (Heimdal, 2004), which also exists in French under the title "Souvenirs de Veterans." The French editions of these books are available at www.amazon.fr.
