French writer sued by family members over novel allegedly depicting them as Nazi collaborators

CÉCILE DESPRAIRIES, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A historian of the Nazi occupation of France was being sued for alleged libel by her own relatives on Wednesday, January 7, after she promoted her first novel as inspired by her family's history. Cécile Desprairies, 68, says her debut novel The Propagandist, which was published in English last year, is inspired by her own childhood, but family members have accused her of lying and want the title removed from bookstores.

"It's a fact: I grew up in a collaborationist family. They all were, to varying degrees," Desprairies said after the book came out in French in 2023. She was not present in court on Wednesday, but a lawyer represented her.

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