Pied Piper is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...

, first published in 1942. The title is a reference to the traditional German folk tale, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...

".

Plot summary

The story concerns an elderly Englishman, John Sidney Howard, who goes on a fishing holiday in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 after the Second World War breaks out, but before the fall of France. Entrusted with the care of two British children, and overtaken by events, he attempts to return to England and safety.
His journey is hampered by the unexpected speed of the Nazi invasion of France

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

, and by the fact that
he continually finds himself entrusted with the custody of more and more young children.
Eventually, he is stranded in Nazi occupied France and he is fully aware that, as an Englishman, he is an enemy to the occupying forces.

While attempting to get passage on a fishing boat, he and his charges are discovered by the Germans. However, in a final plot twist

Plot twist

A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation...

, the German commandant allows them to escape on the condition that they take his niece with them and send her to relatives in the USA.
His niece is apparently orphaned and had a Jewish mother.

The tale is told by an acquaintance he meets in a London club.

The story was filmed in 1942

The Pied Piper (1942 film)

The Pied Piper is a 1942 film in which an Englishman on vacation in France is caught up in the German invasion of that country, and finds himself taking an ever-growing group of children to safety. It stars Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson...

 and again in 1990 as a CBS made-for-television film , Crossing to Freedom. Howard was played in the 1942 film by Monty Woolley

Monty Woolley

Monty Woolley was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his best-known role in the stage play and 1942 film The Man Who Came to Dinner...

 and by Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole

Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...

in the 1990 film.