MARTIN DU GARD, Roger (1881-1958)

MARTIN DU GARD, Roger (1881-1958)

Autograph letter signed « Roger Martin du Gard » to Mme Nolde
[Nice], 14 Oct. [19]43, 1 p. 1/4 in-8°
“Café du Grand Palais” letterheard

A rare wartime letter in which the writer, sheltered in Nice, shows concern for the well-being of his loved ones

« Chère Madame,
J’ai enfin votre adresse, et puis vous renvoyer cette ancienne lettre de Marc [Allégret], qui, heureusement, ne correspond plus à la réalité d’aujourd’hui. Il semble vraiment, n’est-ce pas ? qu’on puisse espérer maintenant. Les transfusions réussissant, l’appétit est revenu, la mine est bonne, les globules rouges augmentent. Alleluia !
J’espère que vous avez trouvé dans le Lot tous les avantages sur lesquels vous comptiez. Ici, la vie devient plus difficile chaque jour. Ne regrettez pas la somptueuse demeure de l’horizon !
Soyez remerciée encore pour toutes les attentions que vous avez eues pour nous, aux jours d’inquiétude, et veuillez agréer, chère madame, tous mes sympathiques hommages,
Roger Martin du Gard
Marc m’écrit que le Poussin [Danièle, fille de Marc Allégret et Nadine Vogel] est en bonne santé et profite au maximum de sa cure paysanne. Quelle sécurité pour eux de savoir la petit avec vous ! »

Crowned with immense glory after the success of his multi-volume novel Les Thibault, whose final installment was due to appear in 1940, the writer spent long periods in Italy at the end of the 1930s, even as war was already spreading across Western Europe. Martin du Gard was forced to leave the Château du Tertre, located in the occupied zone, and take refuge in Nice. Torn between optimism and disillusion, he tried to discern the truth amid the turmoil of this uncertain time, while reflecting on the signs revealed by the war and on the promises or threats the future might hold.
Most of his correspondence during this troubled period was with his closest circle, including stage director Marc Allégret (son of Élie Allégret, tutor to André Gide) and his wife, the actress Nadine Vogel, who at the time was suffering from health problems. The couple had entrusted their young child to Madame Nolde, a refugee in the Lot. It was only through her that Martin du Gard was able to obtain news of the child, who suffered intermittently and caused him the deepest anxiety.