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    Fallen for France

    A Novel

    Author Elizabeth Letts
    Hardcover
    $32.00 US
    Ballantine Group | Ballantine Books
    6-1/8"W x 9-1/4"H | 19 oz | 12 per carton
    On sale Aug 25, 2026 | 336 Pages | 9780593496916
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    An exquisite Arabian mare. A small boy leaving home. A young woman in France fighting to survive. The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ride of Her Life braids a sweeping novel of love, war, empire, and the power of kindness in a world descending into darkness.

    “A compelling read . . . Prepare to be swept away.”—Susan Meissner, author of A Map to Paradise

    Beddou is six years old when he is sent off to apprentice far from his High Atlas village in Morocco. His mother gives him six amber beads to help him find his way home. That same month, a magnificent filly is born in Fes, in the splendor of the Sultan’s palace. For a brief, golden time, the mare belongs to the boy. But Beddou’s heart is broken when a soldier steals his horse and disappears into France just as the Great War roars to a start. Finding her seems impossible, but he vows to try.

    Estelle, a young woman in France, finds a distressed Arabian mare wandering alone in the meadow behind her house. She is determined to look after this radiant creature just as tenderly as she cares for her vulnerable younger brother. But soon her world is torn apart, and she loses both the horse and her brother. She will spend the rest of the war searching for both.

    Thomas is an Englishman hardened by his experience as a wartime veterinarian in France. He finds the mare and promises to protect her—and the woman who once loved her—but he doubts his own ability to keep anyone safe. As the pathways of the unforgettable mare and the boy’s desperate search intertwine, the separate strands of these strangers’ journeys converge, propelling them to make momentous choices that will change the course of their lives.

    Spanning Morocco and France in the shadow of World War I, Fallen for France follows unforgettable characters whose lives are bound by a magnificent horse and a string of amber beads.
    “Masterful and emotionally captivating . . . Letts explores the connections we can forge unexpectedly with animals and one another, against all odds. Fallen For France is a testament of the kindness and love that can only be found in hope, rendered from an unforgettable cast of strangers.”—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

    “Based on historical truths and Elizabeth Letts’s own boundless imagination, Fallen for France is a story of serendipitous connections across continents between a gorgeous Arabian mare and an unforgettable cast of characters.”—Georgia Hunter, author of One Good Thing

    “From Morocco to the Western Front, this thrilling saga is both sweeping and intimate. Much love and hope and courage are found amid the brutality. It’s richly immersive and a splendid read. I could not put it down.”—Helen Simonson, author of The Summer Before the War

    “Compelling . . . Letts is a spectacularly talented storyteller and wordsmith. Fallen for France has everything—wartime intrigue, exotic locations, and beautifully flawed characters. Prepare to be swept away.”—Susan Meissner, author of A Map to Paradise

    “Elizabeth Letts has given us an evocatively drawn cast of characters, including a pampered Arabian mare, who find themselves hurtled into the center of war-torn France. Letts depicts, beautifully, the quietly noble moments of a life, and how they triumph even in the midst of battle.”—Melanie Benjamin, author of The Windsor Affair

    “Fallen for France may begin and end in Morocco, but along the way Letts gives us an entire world. Loyalty, greed, love, war, kindness, and deceit are all on display here, because this is a novel inhabited by fully imagined human beings. It’s the sort of thing we don’t see often enough.”—Jon Clinch, author of The General and Julia

    “Readers will want to savor every sentence as Letts takes them on a ride across borders and seas, vividly painting each new landscape and town with her.”—Natalie Keller Reinert, author of The Jump

    “In her poetic and powerful new novel, Letts weaves in real history, suffering, and hope that lends richness to her characters, be they human or horse.”—Sarah Maslin Nir, author of Horse Crazy
    © Nina Subin
    Elizabeth Letts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, which won the PEN Award for Research Nonfiction, and The Ride of Her Life. She is also the author of the novels Finding Dorothy, Quality of Care, and Family Planning. She lives in Maryland. View titles by Elizabeth Letts

    About

    An exquisite Arabian mare. A small boy leaving home. A young woman in France fighting to survive. The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ride of Her Life braids a sweeping novel of love, war, empire, and the power of kindness in a world descending into darkness.

    “A compelling read . . . Prepare to be swept away.”—Susan Meissner, author of A Map to Paradise

    Beddou is six years old when he is sent off to apprentice far from his High Atlas village in Morocco. His mother gives him six amber beads to help him find his way home. That same month, a magnificent filly is born in Fes, in the splendor of the Sultan’s palace. For a brief, golden time, the mare belongs to the boy. But Beddou’s heart is broken when a soldier steals his horse and disappears into France just as the Great War roars to a start. Finding her seems impossible, but he vows to try.

    Estelle, a young woman in France, finds a distressed Arabian mare wandering alone in the meadow behind her house. She is determined to look after this radiant creature just as tenderly as she cares for her vulnerable younger brother. But soon her world is torn apart, and she loses both the horse and her brother. She will spend the rest of the war searching for both.

    Thomas is an Englishman hardened by his experience as a wartime veterinarian in France. He finds the mare and promises to protect her—and the woman who once loved her—but he doubts his own ability to keep anyone safe. As the pathways of the unforgettable mare and the boy’s desperate search intertwine, the separate strands of these strangers’ journeys converge, propelling them to make momentous choices that will change the course of their lives.

    Spanning Morocco and France in the shadow of World War I, Fallen for France follows unforgettable characters whose lives are bound by a magnificent horse and a string of amber beads.

    Praise

    “Masterful and emotionally captivating . . . Letts explores the connections we can forge unexpectedly with animals and one another, against all odds. Fallen For France is a testament of the kindness and love that can only be found in hope, rendered from an unforgettable cast of strangers.”—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

    “Based on historical truths and Elizabeth Letts’s own boundless imagination, Fallen for France is a story of serendipitous connections across continents between a gorgeous Arabian mare and an unforgettable cast of characters.”—Georgia Hunter, author of One Good Thing

    “From Morocco to the Western Front, this thrilling saga is both sweeping and intimate. Much love and hope and courage are found amid the brutality. It’s richly immersive and a splendid read. I could not put it down.”—Helen Simonson, author of The Summer Before the War

    “Compelling . . . Letts is a spectacularly talented storyteller and wordsmith. Fallen for France has everything—wartime intrigue, exotic locations, and beautifully flawed characters. Prepare to be swept away.”—Susan Meissner, author of A Map to Paradise

    “Elizabeth Letts has given us an evocatively drawn cast of characters, including a pampered Arabian mare, who find themselves hurtled into the center of war-torn France. Letts depicts, beautifully, the quietly noble moments of a life, and how they triumph even in the midst of battle.”—Melanie Benjamin, author of The Windsor Affair

    “Fallen for France may begin and end in Morocco, but along the way Letts gives us an entire world. Loyalty, greed, love, war, kindness, and deceit are all on display here, because this is a novel inhabited by fully imagined human beings. It’s the sort of thing we don’t see often enough.”—Jon Clinch, author of The General and Julia

    “Readers will want to savor every sentence as Letts takes them on a ride across borders and seas, vividly painting each new landscape and town with her.”—Natalie Keller Reinert, author of The Jump

    “In her poetic and powerful new novel, Letts weaves in real history, suffering, and hope that lends richness to her characters, be they human or horse.”—Sarah Maslin Nir, author of Horse Crazy

    Author

    © Nina Subin
    Elizabeth Letts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, which won the PEN Award for Research Nonfiction, and The Ride of Her Life. She is also the author of the novels Finding Dorothy, Quality of Care, and Family Planning. She lives in Maryland. View titles by Elizabeth Letts

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