They Went on Together

They Went On Together, first published in 1941, is a moving novel of a mother and her two young children, Paul and Marie Rose, ages 11 and 4, as they flee the advancing German army during the early days of World War II in France. The family meets and befriends a young girl, Sylvie, who has no family. During a bombing raid, Paul and Sylvie are separated from the family and struggle to survive on their own while Paul’s mother searches desperately for them. They Went On Together is a heart-warming story of family, courage, innocence, and friendship in the face of terrible odds. Robert Nathan (1894-1985) was the author of many books for adults and children, screenplays, and poetry.

“Robert Nathan has written his most realistic book, and struck chords of universal resonance with his most moving simplicity...It is touched with the idyllic beauty, lightened with the smiling normality, made challenging by the reflective thought which belong to all Robert Nathan’s best work; and its resonance is of innate human hope and the recognition of human brotherhood.”—Katherine Woods, New York Times