What Is Left of the Night

An April 2026 Reading Is a Lifestyle Subscription Book Pick

Riveting stories brought to life in a novel brimming with factual accuracy, beautiful prose, and historical characters.

The Nazi regime’s bloody wake in Europe persists as they brutally send “undesirables” to their deaths in concentration camps. As a young Jew, Hannah leaves behind her mother and sister as she flees certain death, arriving in Le Chambon in search of refuge.

Driven by their deeply rooted faith in God, Protestant pastor André Trocmé and his formidable wife, Magda, have turned the unassuming community in the foothills of the French Alps into a quiet resistance-a haven where they shelter escapees from Hitler’s ever-tightening fist. It’s here that an author pens his Nobel Prize-winning novel and finds answers to his questions about God; and just outside the village borders, a one-legged female American spy sets up an operation to organize the French Resistance.

But a sadistic crew is on the rise. Under the supervision of the Butcher of Lyon, Gestapo officer Herr Lauer pursues the Jewish girl. Hannah was in his sights, but when she evaded him, his explosive rage and thirst for revenge set him on a spiraling mission to track her down-leading him straight to Le Chambon.

With lyrical prose and historical accuracy, Mark Buchanan weaves together a thrilling narrative from the real-life stories of a pastor, refugee, spy, and author, tangled together in a plot against the Reich.