The Most Precious of Cargoes: A Tale

Written by Jean-Claude Grumberg

Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

Set during the height of World War II, a powerful and unsettling tale about a woodcutter and his wife, who finds a mysterious parcel thrown from a passing train.

Once upon a time in an enormous forest lived a woodcutter and his wife. The woodcutter is very poor and a war rages around them, making it difficult for them to put food on the table. Yet every night, his wife prays for a child.

A Jewish father rides on a train holding twin babies. His wife no longer has enough milk to feed both children. In hopes of saving them both, he wraps his daughter in a shawl and throws her into the forest.

While foraging for food, the wife finds a bundle, a baby girl wrapped in a shawl. Although she knows harboring this baby could lead to her death, she takes the child home.

Set against the horrors of the Holocaust and told with a fairytale-like lyricism, The Most Precious of Cargoes is a fable about family and redemption which reminds us that humanity can be found in the most inhumane of places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Sep 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9780063015357

Jean-Claude Grumberg

Jean-Claude Grumberg has been a renowned and successful playwright and scriptwriter for over forty years. He is the author of eight plays and stories for children, and has also worked as a director.

Reviews for The Most Precious of Cargoes

[marda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved the narration! The book was alright too. Beautiful, painful and very touching like all the other world war stories that make me cry!

[priscillam_80 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story (fairy tale?) is so beautiful but also so sad. The story of a lonely woodcutters wife who is gifted a most precious thing to look after at a time in history where the world was at war. There were unspeakable atrocities and great danger and tragedy. Yet out of this little story the author manages to capture such elements of love and also hope to sustain the beautifully drawn characters.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautiful and moving fairy tale. I really enjoyed reading it, but I just didn't think it was substantial enough to give it more than 3 stars.