The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel

There are some books that grab you from the first page on. The Book of Lost Names was that kind of book for me. It was intriguing that the central character, Eva Traube Abrams, was a librarian and the opening of the book was set in the Winter Park, FL library in 2005. She sees an article in the New York Times that takes her back six decades to her life in Paris during the war and a book that had special meaning to her. Otto Kühn, a Berlin librarian, was attempting to return books that had been stolen by the Nazis to their rightful owners. Eva knew that she had to immediately fly to Berlin to try to retrieve it. 

The novel then shifts to her time as a young woman studying at the Sorbonne in 1942 when Paris was under siege by the Germans. She lives with her parents when her father, a Jewish typewriter repair person, is kidnapped by the Nazis, leaving she and her mother, Mamusia, alone. They are warned about the danger of staying in Paris and so with the help of a family friend who shows her how to forge papers, they escape to the countryside and the village of Aurignon in free France. They happen upon a boarding house where Madame Barbier takes them in and gives them advise on being safe. Shortly after Eva goes into a bookstore to purchase pens to help her with the writing she needs to do to forge papers for her father's release. She is introduced to Père Clément, a priest who is also secretly forging papers. Eva becomes part of the resistance and meets Rémy, a very handsome man, who is also part of the resistance and devoted to helping others even if it causes him harm and possible death. In Aurignon, Eva also is reacquainted with Joseph Pelletier with whom she had gone to school in Paris. He would be the perfect husband according to her mother, although Eva is not really attracted to him. He insinuates himself into their lives with the pretense for helping them. As Gérard Faucon, his alias, he becomes involved with another talented forger, Geneviève. 

The novel is consumed with the work the forgers accomplished in providing documents for persons to escape to Switzerland, especially orphans. It becomes a page-turner, when the group is compromised by someone who is leaking information to the Germans. Tragic deaths occur as they are uncovered. The reader has some comfort in knowing that Eva survives at least until 2005.

With the themes of resilience, bravery, love and kindness The Book of Lost Names provides the reader with a few hours of inspired writing. The characters are well-developed and exhibit the full range of human emotions. It is engaging and captures the reader from the get-go. One of the gems that portray the horrors of the Holocaust. 

 

 

The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar

Chosen for the July Gables Book Club, I had a bit of time to get ahead on some reading. The basis of this novel were the letters and diaries of Johanna Bonger, the sister-in-law of Vincent Van Gogh. It was a fascinating interplay between her life and the life of Emsley Wilson, whose grandmother gives her a box containing the memorabilia. 

Wilson is an auctioneer who arranges political auctions for the rich and famous. She owns the company with Trey, a boyfriend with whom she has broken up. This complicates her life as she also deals with the hospitalization and death of her grandmother, Violet. Violet was a well-known New York City socialite and artist. After Violet's death Emsley is charged by her mother to clean out Violet's Greenwich home to make sure there is nothing that would tatter Violet's name. During this process she learns that Trey is plotting to dissolve the business and requires that Emsley come up with the million dollars to buy him out to save it. 

During this time she becomes further engrossed in the diaries in which Johanna, after the death of her husband Theo, makes it her goal to establish Vincent as an accomplished artist. Johanna finds herself a young widow with a little son and refuses to take a back seat to no one. She is an independent woman, much like Emsley strives to become. 

There are some additional, well drawn characters in the book, especially the chicken that is given to her by Violet's neighbor, Mrs. Yang. Johanna's brother, Dries, is well articulated and provides support for his sister as she deals with Theo's illness. Emsley begins to see a real genealogical connection between her grandmother and Johanna and goes to great ends to establish that relationship.  

This was an incredibly well researched book and an entertaining one. There are a number of quotes that resonate with the reader. It was especially ironic that Johanna remarked that Monet had moved to Giverny to paint water lilies and that it will be “will be the end of him in the profession.”

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

There are not too many books dealing with World War II and German doings that I do not enjoy. The Paris Architect was no exception. A number of subplots and character development made the novel an enjoyable and interesting read. 

The opening of the novel provides just the shock value to entice the reader to read on. A man witnesses the cold-blooded murder of a Jewish man by Nazi soldiers as he is on his way to a business meeting. 

Lucien Bernard is an architect, living in Paris during the German Occupation with his wife Celeste. The two are merely going through the motions of a marriage as both are involved with other people. He is approached by an industrialist, Manet to aid in the hiding of Parisian Jews. His first reaction is to turn down the offer, but the idea of a lucrative reward for the job spurs him to take it. He has a very creative mind and finds after a couple of successful jobs of allowing Jewish people to avoid being discovered by the Nazis, that he actually enjoys thwarting the German soldiers. 

His affair with Adele seems to be crumbling and he finds himself at a loss until Manet connects him a member of the Wehrmacht who employs Lucien to design munitions factories, which he agrees to do, although hie is accused by his wife on her departure from the home as a collaborator. Therein lies a conflict as Lucien knows that he is helping the Germans, but is convinced that the French will be able to use the factories after the war. 

His world is shattered when he witnesses the death of a couple whom he believed to have hidden safely, his office is infiltrated by an intern whose uncle is connected, Adele sleeping with a Nazi officer. Belfoure builds the suspense as Bernard tries to walk a tightrope between his loyalty to France and keeping the Nazis at bay. 

There are some very poignant scenes in The Paris Architect when a young Pierre enters his life and an affair with Adele's employee, Bette, commences. The novel builds to a conclusion, that until the last page the reader is kept on edge.

Belfoure includes a wonderful map of Paris with all the streets that are mentioned in the book referenced. The book is beautifully written and would entice me to read another one of his books. 

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

In 1999 we traveled to Washington D.C. for a getaway weekend. One of the places that we put on our itinerary was the Phillips Collection. There was an exhibit of Impressionist paintings. Among them was The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir. This painting has fascinated me ever since. When I saw Vreeland's book appear on the Kindle Daily Deals, I immediately bought it. The appeal was even more enhanced after seeing a number of Renoir's paintings, especially Ball at the Moulin de la Galette at the Museé d'Orsay in June. I chose it for our Gables Book Club's September selection, with apologies for picking another art book. 

Susan Vreeland does a wonderful job in creating the back story of the attendees at the luncheon. In 1881 Renoir was a struggling artist both in the artistic sense and in a personal sense. He had been painting in the impressionistic style, but had wanted to extend his notoriety beyond that group, especially after the critical review of Emile Zola. He had painted numerous portraits, but knew that he needed another large painting to follow the Ball. At the urging of his patron, Madame Charpentier, he decided on a painting that would take place at the Maison Fournaise. And so he began to assemble the models. They came from every walk in life, including artists, actresses, lawyers, the children of the owner of the cafe, a seamstress, and a dancer. Over an 8 week period of time he painted them and the setting of the party. He was really under a self-imposed deadline due to the natural lighting and a nautical festival that would be taking place there. 

Thirteen of the people in the painting are easily identified, but there is a mysterious person in the center of the work, almost hidden. Renoir was consumed with the fact that he needed to have 14 people appear so as not appear to be imitating The Last Supper. Could it be that he painted himself in? Prominently seated in the fore of the painting is Aline with her dog. She would eventually become Renoir's wife. The lives of the other models give a peak into the cultural, historical, and social mores of the time. Vreeland in her narrative gives an insight especially in to the issue of women's rights and the women who strive to assert them whether it be in subservience to a man or the right to an abortion. 

The description of the food that is served prior to Renoir's painting on the Sunday afternoons leaves one craving some of the dishes. Chapter 17 begins with such a description of a Charlotte Malakoff:

"They’d sung a few songs while eating the Charlotte Malakoff, a mold of strawberries, ladyfingers soaked in rum, and almond cream, and now they were ready to take their poses."

This was the inspiration for the dessert at the evening's book club discussion. 

There is also a bit of a romantic triangle between Renoir, Aline, and Alphonsine Fournaise, both of whom were in love with Auguste and he with them.

This was a delightful book to read and one that you should read with the painting at your side. The characters are well developed, the setting well described, and the research extensive. I will be looking to read one of Vreeland's other books.

The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton

I first heard of The Race for Paris when Margaret Atwood mentioned that she was reading it. It was also the perfect book to pick up as we left France and Normandy in July. 

The book is a work of fiction, but with the quotes and references to real-life female journalists and photographers who covered WWII, it reads like a personal account or memoir. After the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, the allied armies set about to liberate the French countryside towns on their way to the liberation of Paris. 

The novel's three main characters are Jane Tyler, Liv Harper, and Fletcher Roebuck. Jane is a reporter from the Nashville Banner, Liv, a photographer who is married to Charles, editor of The New York Daily Press, and Fletcher who is a credentialed war photographer. The three team up to be the first in Paris to report the ultimate liberation. Although Jane narrates the novel, it is really Liv's book and a tribute to her. 

Female journalists were often under undue regulations as they attempted to cover the war. Liv requested a jeep to go to the front, was denied by a commanding officer, and so convinces Jane to go AWOL from her position at a hospital. They meet up with Fletcher whom they convince to accompany them on their quest. What ensues is a action filled account of their goal of reaching Paris. 

The three not only have to avoid being discovered for fear of being sent back to their homes, but also to avoid the German defenses and bombs. As they journey through the small towns, finding places to sleep and rations to eat, the reader senses a commitment to the cause, but also to each other among the three. The book is a tribute to the courage of those who covered the war, but especially the woman who faced event greater hardships. Witnessing a childbirth in a cave where a group of Jewish people were hiding was so poignant, disturbing, and revealing more than anyone could imagine. I was angered by the fact that the male correspondents were handed virtually everything, but the women were denied so much - to the extent that Liv could not submit her photos with her name. 

There is also a bit of romance that is written into the account. It develops as a triangle between Liv and Fletcher and Jane and added to the angst of the harrowing war scenes. But as the book draws to a conclusion, it seems to be a natural progression.  Liv's husband's conduct disturbed me very much. Encouraging her to take on the job of covering the war, he then seems to undermine her work by starting rumors, having multiple affairs, and underhandedly trying to have MPs arrest her.

In addition to the story that it tells The Race For Paris is a tribute to those women who covered the war. Interspersed in the story are quotes by and references to Ruth Cowan, Margaret Bourke-White, Iris Carpenter, Martha Gellhorn,  Lee Miller, and Dickey Chapelle. Also figuring prominently in the book was Ernie Pyle.

This was a very enlightening book and one where the words on the page conjured pictures in my imagination that I saw from having visited some of the towns referenced. It was a great read as a culmination to our French journey.

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva

How does he know? Daniel Silva may be the most clairvoyant writer of all time. In his book from 2016 he predicts ISIS terrorist attacks before they happened. So eerie were the predictions that Silva, in his preface, nearly delayed the publication of this book.

The Black Widow is the 16th adventure that involves art restorer/Israeli intelligence officer Gabriel Allon. Silva brings back in this novel some of his familiar characters and some new ones, his twins Irene and Raphael. As the novel opens, an explosion in Paris kills one of those characters from The Messenger and Gabriel inherits a very valuable painting. However, before taking possession of the painting, he must aid the French in the investigation and bringing the terrorists to justice. 
He realizes that he must infiltrate the ISIS group and chooses a brilliant Israeli doctor, Natalie Mizrahi. She was originally born in France, but moved to Israel with her parents to whom she is still very close. Reluctant at first, she agrees to the plan as revenge for the death of her former boyfriend. With intensive training in the Muslim religion and way of life she assumes the identity of Leila Hadawi. 

As the Israeli intelligence moves through the investigation, they identify the perpetrator of the attack as Saladin and it is up to Natalie/Leila to discover Saladin's true persona. In tense and pressure filled drama, she is asked to save Saladin's life when she is called to his compound after he is injured. She realizes that she could let the mastermind die and her self be killed because of it or she could save his life and allow him to continue to devise horrific terrorist plots. With every turn of the page, the reader is thrust into thrilling scenes and "edge of seat" events. From Paris to Paris to Jerusalem to Raqqa to Washington, the action builds as Natalie pursues her mission in outing Saladin and the Black Widow. 

As in all of Silva's books, if one divulges more of the plot, the suspense is spoiled for those who read. Suffice it to say, that once started, the reader will not rest until it is finished. Daniel Silva does not hide his political bias in any of his novels, and this one is no exception. His contempt for the soft treatment of ISIS by the Obama administration is obvious. One of the author's most skillful hallmarks is his ability to develop characters. In this novel, Natalie's personality is well developed and crafted. Readers understand her dilemma, appreciate the moral and ethical decisions she must make while still developing an empathy for the warring sides in the Middle East. 

Although The Black Widow could be read as a stand-alone novel, one would be cheating him/herself if the other 15 had not been read. Having just finished this book, Silva's new one just arrived on my doorstep and I cannot wait to crack it open. Daniel Silva is a genius. 
 

bonjour kale by Kristen Beddard

I was a bit skeptical when our book club chose a book about kale for its December read. I am not fond of kale, probably dating back to the summer when our CSA in Watertown only had kale to distribute because of  a horrible growing season. The book was available in the Kindle edition for a mere $1.99, so why not?

bonjour kale is a memoir, a collection of recipes, and a travelogue of Paris. Kristen Beddard, a native Pittsburgher, after college settles in New York City where she meets her husband, Phillip. Soon after they marry they move to Paris for his job. She is a "trailing spouse" and for the greater part of a year feels isolated and like a fish out of water. She describes their quest for an apartment, her many attempts to learn the language, and trying to make friends, as well as trying to fit into the culture. 

But the most disconcerting matter of the move was the absence of kale in the Parisian markets. Kristen's background was rooted in healthy foods and eating. One of the mainstays of her diet was kale and it didn't exist in France. And so began the Kale Project. It was her attempt to introduce the vegetable into the cuisine of the French. One of the issues she discovered was lack of a French word for the greens. In her quest she really couldn't even ask for it and have the market proprietors understand her. As she eventually allies herself with some farmers, the memoir details her mission to bring kale from farm to table. She ends each chapter with a recipe or two, which I can say that I will not try. I admire her tenacity in this undertaking, but I still can't bring myself to cook this green.

This was an easy, fun,  and interesting read. I enjoyed the smattering of French words, the descriptions of the markets, and the references to Pittsburgh. If anyone really likes kale, you would absolutely love this book.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Sometimes you just need to read a book that is light, charming, and delightful. These were fitting adjectives to describe The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper,  Patrick's debut novel.

As the novel begins, Arthur, a widower for a year, decides to begin cleaning out his deceased wife's closet. In the process he discovers, in the toe of a boot  a gold charm bracelet. Arthur can't ever remember Miriam wearing it. There are 8 charms on the bracelet and he is curious as to their significance. The first charm that intrigues Arthur is a small tiger that happens to have a phone number on the back. Reaching down for the courage to call the number, he finally musters it and places the call to all places, India. There he reaches a Rajesh Mehra whose nanny was Miriam. And so Arthur's journey begins.

He follows leads for all the charms that take him to Paris, London, a manor outside Bath and a college in Scarborough. The charms reveal a part of Miriam's life of which Arthur was not aware. He begins to wonder whether he really knew his wife. Was she happy with him? Did she really love him. The charms also lead Arthur to really change his life. He has been a virtual recluse since his wife's death, but on a quest for knowledge brings him out in the world. He is befriended by a neighbor, Bernadette, who brings him pies and encourages him to leave his house. She is a catalyst for his being able to start to get on with his life.

In a secondary plot line is Arthur's relationship with his children. Lucy, who has emotional problems of her own, and Dan, the son who moved to Australia, are, for the most part, absent from his life. They did not even come to their mother's funeral. As Arthur tries to rekindle a relationship with them, he again learns more about his wife and himself. The ending is quite poignant and I will admit to a bit of a sniffle. 

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper reminds me a lot of 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. A series of items left to the protagonist to a different place that has meaning to that person. As Ginny and Arthur try to piece together that meaning they discover more about themselves as well as their benefactor. Patrick's book is a fun read. There is humor, a bit of sadness, some suspense, and a dark revelation. It's a fast read and a good end of the summer pool or beach book.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

The Bohemian life of the Lost Generation has been a fascination of mine for a while. It is remarkable how much has been contributed by the artists, writers, and philosophers of that time period. From Picasso to Braque to Gris and Hemingway to Fitzgerald to Stein and Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir to Albert Camus. When it was time this month to read a biography for our Gables Book Club, I turned to The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. Stein, in a conversation with Ernest Hemingway, is the person who coined the phrase, saying, "you all are a Lost Generation."

In this book, Stein actually writes her memoirs, but in the guise of the autobiography of her partner, Alice B. Toklas. The two were among the most prominent "socialites" of the the Paris scene, living at 27 rue de Fleurus, just blocks from the Tuileries Garden. Stein was born in Allegheny City, now incorporated into the city of Pittsburgh and the book starts there. The chapters go on to detail life before the war, Paris, and life after the war. They are filled with accounts of the salons, the artists, and the writers. Much of it mirrors the descriptions of Parisian life as described in Zelda or A Moveable Feast. Toklas recounts how she is relegated to time with the wives when Stern "entertains" Hemingway or Picasso.  One of the most enlightening quotes in the book was about F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"Gertrude Stein had been very much impressed by This Side of Paradise. She read it when it came out and before she knew any of the young American writers. She said of it that it was a book that really created for the public the new generation. She has never really changed her opinion about this. She thinks this equally true of The Great Gatsby. She thinks Fitzgerald will be read when many of his well known contemporaries are forgotten. Fitzgerald aways says that he thinks Gertrude Stein says these things just to annoy him by making him think that she means them, and he adds in his favourite way, and her doing it is the cruelest thing I ever heard."

The book was enlightening on many fronts. It detailed their lives as they bought a Ford and traveled around France volunteering for the American Fund for the French Wounded. At one point, to make some much needed money, Stein traveled to England to lecture on her writings. The turmoil over their passports and reentry to France was illuminating to say the least.

This book would not be high on every one's list of must reads. It often reads like a diary of someone who is self-impressed and who is trying to create that sense of importance by name-dropping. But, that is the way the Lost Generation worked. This incredibly talented and creative group of people did play off one another and did thrive in doing so. How they lived and traveled with their limited incomes has always intrigued me. But they did and for that I am grateful.

Gertrude Stein's Grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris

Alice B. Toklas' Grave Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris (on the back side of Gertrude Stein's grave)

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

After finishing The Paris Wife, it only seemed natural to read Hemingway's version of the time he and Hadley Richardson Hemingway spent in Paris in the early 1920s. A Moveable Feast was published posthumously in 1964. The book was edited by his fourth wife, Mary. A more recent edition was published in 2009 that was edited by a Seán, a grandson of Hemingway and Pauline Pfeiffer.

A Moveable Feast is truly a memoir in the most literal sense of the word. I lost count of how many times Hemingway used the phrase, "I remember." He has fond memories of this time in Paris interacting with all the authors who were living and working there. He leads us to believe that he was a doting father to Bumby and almost apologetic for the way he treated Hadley. The reader does get a glimpse into his real personality especially in his relationship with Gertrude Stein. I found it quite amusing that he never acknowledged Alice Toklas by name, but merely referred to her as a friend.

Hemingway recounts his delight in all his travels, especially to Shruns and the Alps. I had hoped for more about the vacations in Spain, but those accounts were sparse. Perhaps, this is because the memoir is virtually void of mention of Pauline, or at least the edition that I read. The most amusing and nearly slapstick account is of the trip that Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald take to Lyon to recover Zelda's car. It was a comic of errors and to read Hemingway's description of the hypochondriacal Fitzgerald on his funeral pyre was reason enough to read the book. That passage should be required reading in high school English classes prior to reading a novel of Fitzgerald or Hemingway. These were REAL people. It is hard to comprehend how young Hemingway was during this time, but one gets the sense of all the struggles and demons in his life that haunted him up until he committed suicide in 1961.

Hemingway, for as poorly as he appeared to live in Paris, always seemed to have enough money for drink and entertainment. His descriptions of nightlife and the Bohemian scene are vivid and colorful. With a map of Paris in hand, the reader can retrace his steps and find the landmarks so important to his life. The memoir is intriguing and spurs the reader, at least this one, to want to read more about the "Lost Generation." There are not enough hours in the day or days in the year to investigate all one's interests. 

A Moveable Feast is a nostalgic look back at a life and time. It allows the reader an introspective look at one of the greatest American authors who himself is reflecting on his past. An easy and very worthwhile read.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

It is unfortunate that students in high school never get to know the story behind the story. It is almost certain that every student reads at least one Ernest Hemingway novel, novella, or short story. Maybe, if there is time, a teacher when teaching about the author will mention Hemingway's service in wartime, his fascination with bullfighting and his tragic end of life. What is left out is his struggle to become a writer, his bohemian life-style in Paris, and unfortunately, his treatment of women. These are the things that make an author come alive and therefore his works.

The Paris Wife is a fictionalized account of Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley Richardson. There is enough history here that the reader knows that not too much of the book has been fictionalized. Richardson and Hemingway are introduced as young people who are living in Chicago. They become infatuated with each other, fall in love and are eventually married. Hemingway is writing for The Toronto Star and the Cooperative Commonwealth.  Hadley's mother was very over-protective of her as a child, she heard the gunshot that was the cause of her father's suicide and when she met Hemingway a bit unsure of such a relationship. They were married after less than a year, a courtship that was carried on mostly by short visits and letters. They decided that they would go to Rome to live for a while, but Sherwood Anderson convinced them that Paris was a better place to be.

McClain vividly describes their life in Paris from their impoverished accommodation, to the dance halls, the sights and sounds of the Latin Quarter, and of course their association with the members of the "Lost Generation." I have always been fascinated with how all of these incredibly creative people converged in this city and managed to produce volumes of literature. From Stein to Dos Passos to James Joyce to Ezra Pound, Fitzgerald and Hemingway. There is an energy that one senses that was passed from one to the other. The wives, including Alice B. Toklas, were an important support group and one has the distinct impression that that's who Hadley was.  

The gradual disintegration of the marriage was hastened by the attention paid to Hemingway by one of Hadley's best friends, Pauline Pfeiffer, a wealthy fashion designer who was living in Paris. The Hemingways' lives were marked often by traveling to Austria, Pamplona, and even back to North America. It was not uncommon that the two traveled separately. It was during one of these trips when Ernest returned to Paris without Hadley that he began an affair with Pauline. They eventually agreed to a divorce, but remained on amicable terms for the sake of their child, Bumpy (John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway).  Pauline eventually becomes Hemingway's second wife and Hadley marries Paul Mowrer. 

The Paris Wife was a good read, albeit sometimes the writing seemed choppy, that is a glimpse into the life of Hemingway in Paris. Despite knowing the outcome of the relationship, the reader does root for the two to make it through the rough times of the marriage. Hemingway is not always the villain, and Hadley is not always the persecuted and maligned wife. She is, however, a woman who gave up dreams of pursuing her own career in music for that of her husband. She was supportive and encouraging. It will be interesting to read Hemingway's version of the Parisian life in A Moveable Feast. A good read that was both educational, enlightening, and enjoyable.