The Night War

Nora is Miri’s two-year-old neighbor. Miri and Nora have a close and loving relationship; Miri is teaching Nora French. Their life in the Pletzl is disrupted by the roundup, and Miri smuggles Nora away to save them both.

Nora is a cheerful and trusting child. She loves to play and laugh with Miri and trusts Miri when she urges her to come with her or be quiet. Nora is renamed Monique by the French couple in Chenonceaux, who believe that she is a war orphan.

Miri must decide whether Nora should be left with this couple, safe but unaware of her true identity or family. Ultimately, Miri decides that Nora deserves to know who she is and that her Jewish identity is an immutable and essential piece of her identity that should not be taken from her. In the Epilogue, the reader learns that Nora is reunited with her parents after the war.

Catherine de’ Medici was a French queen who lived in the 16th century. Her ghostly form lives at Château de Chenonceau, where she can be seen and heard only by her respective gardeners. She appears to Miri, who gardens in the castle around her work as a people smuggler.

Catherine’s identity is hinted at in her clothing, which Miri notes as old-fashioned, and in her turn of phrase, which is outdated, such as when she suggests that Miri should return to the garden with a scythe—a medieval gardening tool. Catherine is haughty and dignified in her manner to Miri, further illustrating her royal origins: “‘May I bring some of the other students to help me?’ ‘Of course,’ she said, with a regal smile. ‘They can be your under-gardeners. How marvelous, to have staff again’” (78).

Miri condemns Catherine’s orchestration of a massacre, which killed thousands of Huguenots. Initially, Catherine defends her actions, illustrating her power-hungry and ruthless manner of rule: “The point was to stay in power” (124). Miri prompts Catherine to consider that it’s wrong for those in power to enact cruelty and violence on minorities, likening this to the Nazi’s actions toward the Jews. Catherine’s evolution as a character through her relationship with Miri toward becoming more compassionate and reflective is illustrated in her later conversation with Miri: “‘I wanted the Huguenots gone, whatever that took.’ I didn’t say anything. Catherine said, ‘There might have been Huguenots who were girls like you.’ ‘Or like you,’ I said. ‘Girls without parents to protect them.’ Another long silence stretched between us. Catherine said, ‘Perhaps I would choose differently now’” (145).

Beatrice is initially characterized as a devout Catholic and a Nazi sympathizer. Her appearance aligns with the “Aryan” ideal, which makes Miri feel hyper-aware of her own clandestine Jewish identity: “This girl was perfectly manicured and clean, her pale green dress crisp and fresh, her blond bobbed hair held back from her blue eyes with a pretty barrette. She was tall and pink-cheeked, and she looked well-fed. She looked like the sort of girl Nazis loved” (40).

Furthermore, Beatrice is characterized as curious and observant, which worries Miri. Beatrice’s eagerness to know about Miri’s mysterious background and Miri’s occasional muttering (in Yiddish) is illustrated in her constant questions; Beatrice says to Miri, “You’re hiding something […] I wish you would tell me what it was,” and further urges Miri, “[Y]ou can trust me” (53). Beatrice’s devout practices and appearances are red herrings that disguise Beatrice’s identity as a fellow Jew; she has identified that Miri, too, is Jewish and wishes that Miri would confide in her but doesn’t feel safe to confide herself.

Beatrice reveals herself to be a loyal friend, especially when she quickly covers up Elodie’s mistake in correctly identifying Miri’s Yiddish. She flees with Miri, Nora, and Elodie at the novel’s conclusion; however, her family does not survive the war.