ERWIN
Legio Patria Nostra
By Louis Perez y Cid.
A book by Martine Trouillet.
Erwin was seventeen when he left St. Gallen, his family, without explanation, to go to Austria and join the French Foreign Legion. There, he discovered another life: military campaigns, Indochina, Algeria, and silent loyalty.
Years later, he settled in France. Life flowed by quietly. At the end of his life, he chose Clémence as his heir. She never really knew him. He had shared her mother's life for a time, without ever fully taking her place.
While exploring his apartment, Clémence discovered a metal box filled with military papers and photographs. Among them, a simple image: a legionnaire, a woman, a child. Nothing extraordinary, except what it revealed. Clémence recognizes the photo and remembers.
Behind this image lies a broader reality: children born in Indochina to Legionnaire fathers and Asian mothers, often marginalized, suspended between two worlds, never fully belonging to either.
She then embarks on a search for the child Erwin believed lost. A discreet, determined quest, pursued with unwavering determination. The story also addresses the pain of children born of impossible loves between occupiers and the occupied.
While exploring his apartment, Clémence discovered a metal box filled with military papers and photographs. Among them, a simple image: a legionnaire, a woman, a child. Nothing extraordinary, except what it revealed. Clémence recognizes the photo and remembers.
Behind this image lies a broader reality: children born in Indochina to Legionnaire fathers and Asian mothers, often marginalized, suspended between two worlds, never fully belonging to either.
She then embarks on a search for the child Erwin believed lost. A discreet, determined quest, pursued with unwavering determination. The story also addresses the pain of children born of impossible loves between occupiers and the occupied.
Underlying this narrative is the memory of veterans of Indochina. Many of these children were separated from their mothers at a very young age, repatriated to France or left behind. Some found their place, others grew up with an irreparable void, caught between two origins difficult to reconcile. A history long silenced, but deeply alive in their memories.
As columnist Philippe Smans points out, Martine Trouillet succeeds in vividly conveying the emotions of her characters.
Erwin was a real person. This story is inspired by his words, by what he left behind. It seeks neither to correct nor to explain, but to bear witness to a man with his flaws and to a unique family, the Legion, where bonds are forged differently, sometimes at the cost of everything that remains outside.
Some destinies leave only silences.
Erwin Legio Patria Nostra was a finalist in the SRIAS Centre Val de Loire literary competition. A copy of this book is in the library of the Legion Museum, and that is a great honor.
Link to the author's online store:
A - NOVEL - ERWIN - LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA
For all orders placed through this site, the author offers free shipping; simply enter the code "LEGION'ARTS" at checkout.
Link to a Belgian literary critic's review of the book:
Erwin legio patria nostra – Martine Trouillet – Editions ML Production – 2024 – ISBN 9782494122161 – Review by Philippe Smans
As columnist Philippe Smans points out, Martine Trouillet succeeds in vividly conveying the emotions of her characters.
Erwin was a real person. This story is inspired by his words, by what he left behind. It seeks neither to correct nor to explain, but to bear witness to a man with his flaws and to a unique family, the Legion, where bonds are forged differently, sometimes at the cost of everything that remains outside.
Some destinies leave only silences.
Erwin Legio Patria Nostra was a finalist in the SRIAS Centre Val de Loire literary competition. A copy of this book is in the library of the Legion Museum, and that is a great honor.
Link to the author's online store:
A - NOVEL - ERWIN - LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA
For all orders placed through this site, the author offers free shipping; simply enter the code "LEGION'ARTS" at checkout.
Link to a Belgian literary critic's review of the book:
Erwin legio patria nostra – Martine Trouillet – Editions ML Production – 2024 – ISBN 9782494122161 – Review by Philippe Smans