I had to make some order out of all this paper. That's why it took years to write this book.

I don't know why they waited to the last minute to leave Paris. But they had amazing foresight and luck. It's not too much to say that George saved their lives. Many people were turned back.

We all saw the evacuation of Houston during the hurricane. In the exodus from Paris, five million people hit the road in fear of the impending battle. After the French surrendered without a defense of Paris, many moved back. For me, the drama was that evacuation. I could not get the image of two people on bicycles in that flood of refugees out of my head.

I think I can crack this.

Rules meant order. Without them they’d be killing each other. It began with butting in, with parking in disabled spaces, with smoking in elevators. And it ended in murder.

The toddler must say no in order to find out who she is. The adolescent says no to assert who she is not.