AN AUTHOR from Conwy has released her latest novel, about a French village’s tragic past.

Siân Rees, a native of Rhyl who now lives in Ty’n y Groes, had visited the south-west commune of Oradour-sur-Glane in France with her family several times, but she finally decided to put the village’s tragic past into words in her latest novel.

Her second and latest wartime novel recalls the tragic story of the village in Haute-Vienne in Nazi-occupied France.

On 10 June 1944, the Nazis arrived in the small village in western France and killed 642 people, the vast majority of the village's population, by burning and shooting them.

To this day, no evident reason has been identified for the attack, and it is considered one of the most significant war crimes of the Second World War.

In accordance with President Charles de Gaulle’s commands, the charred skeleton of the village was kept as it was rather than being rebuilt, as a permanent record of the horrific event.

It was a visit to this village that spurred Siân Rees to write Adar Mud, a novel based on the massacre.

“I have been fascinated by the story of Oradour-sur-Glane since the late eighties when we went as a family to visit the remains of the village for the first time,” said Siân.

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“An article in a magazine called France Magazine prompted the first visit, and we have been there several times since then because of how harrowing the story is.”

“Only a handful of villagers managed to escape, including a woman who climbed out of the church window, which was on fire, and five young men who escaped from a barn.

“It was their testimony that meant the world was told what the Nazis did on that day, and by now several sources have told the story.”

Ms Rees’ new novel retells the brutal story, and the author added: “Several people have asked if it was difficult to write about such a harrowing story - in order to convey the magnitude of the massacre, it was necessary to detail the horrific events of that summer afternoon in 1944.

“It wasn’t a pleasant task. But the research was entertaining and the writing itself a pure pleasure.

“I've interwoven historical characters with several imaginary characters and families, and it's this combination of fact and fiction that brings historical facts to life for me.”

In the 1950s, a trial was brought against 60 of the soldiers who were in Oradour that day, and although twenty of them were sentenced, they were all released.

Many of them said they were only following the orders of their superiors. By now, it seems that no one will ever know why the Nazis decided to attack the village.

Adar Mud is available in all Welsh bookshops, via www.carreg-gwalch.cymru and www.gwales.com.