Simone, a novel by L. Feuchtwanger, published in Stockholm in 1944. It is the fourth and last of the novels designated as Der Wartesaal. It draws a deliberate parallel with Joan of Arc in German-occupied France in 1940. Simone Machard, the new Joan, fifteen years of age, sets fire to her uncle's petrol depot in order to prevent it from falling into German hands. Under interrogation she denies, like Jeanne d'Arc, her idealistic motivation, only later to recover her courage, admit the truth, and submit to her punishment. This story was dramatized by B. Brecht and Feuchtwanger in 1956 as Die Gesichte der Simone Machard.

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.