Frédéric Pennel, independent journalist, wrote a historical novel which takes place in Roubaix during the First World War.
He grew up between Roubaix and Hem. Passionate about the media, a press reader, he “ have been eating documentaries forever “. When he learned of this story of a clandestine newspaper kept in Roubaix during the First World War, Frédéric took hold of it and did some research. Two of his great-grandparents frequented and contributed to this clandestine network at the time. “ I took advantage of the calm period of confinement to write a historical novel but the facts are real. I just fictionalized it with the introduction of two main characters, who were inspired by my great-grandparents » he specifies.
The occupation during the First World War had the particularity that the French suffered from the absence of news and communication because the radio did not exist, unlike the period of occupation of the Second World War. Frédéric’s book is on sale at Furet du Nord, at Presse du Parc and at the Musée la Piscine shop. The opportunity for this native of Roubaix to set foot again in this city which he finds “ beautiful and poetic, with all these colorful facades and these factories as beautiful as castles. »
The clandestine pharmacy: Resistance in the occupied North during the Great War by Frédéric Pennel
(L’Harmattan editions)
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