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Book Reviewed by:The long-awaited new work from the best-selling author of The Invisible Bridge takes us back to occupied Europe in this gripping historical novel based on the true story of Varian Fry's extraordinary attempt to save the work, and the lives, of Jewish artists fleeing the Holocaust.
In 1940, Varian Fry - a Harvard educated American journalist - traveled to Marseille carrying three thousand dollars and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to rescue within a few weeks. Instead, he ended up staying in France for thirteen months, working under the veil of a legitimate relief organization to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and set up an underground railroad that led over the Pyrenees, into Spain, and finally to Lisbon, where the refugees embarked for safer ports. Among his many clients were Hannah Arendt, Franz Werfel, André Breton, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Marc Chagall.
The Flight Portfolio opens at the Chagalls' ancient stone house in Gordes, France, as the novel's hero desperately tries to persuade them of the barbarism and tragedy descending on Europe. Masterfully crafted, exquisitely written, impossible to put down, this is historical fiction of the very first order, and resounding confirmation of Orringer's gifts as a novelist.
Adding in color and texture through her own imagining, Orringer makes her lead character come to life; he is sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes impetuous and sometimes deeply thoughtful. He is full of quirks and shortcomings, yet he is also entirely sympathetic. If you are looking to get lost in a vivid, deeply feeling work of fiction, look no further. The Flight Portfolio will take you on a journey. It will make you think, make you wonder, fill you with joy...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Natalie Vaynberg).
It is a well-known fact that France was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Not only is this chapter in history covered in textbooks and classrooms, it is also frequently the subject of movies and novels. The simplified picture of France at this time would include patriotic French citizens gathering in secret to support the resistance, French troops eagerly awaiting their chance to fight back against the Axis powers and French cities awaiting Allied rescuers to free them. Yet the reality was a bit more complicated.
When the Nazis invaded France, it was only a matter of days before the country saw its defeat at hand. Shocked by the radical change in their fortune, the French government had a decision to make—it could move ...
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The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II--only to be forgotten by the country they served.
Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less
No book this year could possibly compare with The Flight Portfolio: ambitious, meticulous, big-hearted, gorgeous, historical, suspenseful, everything you want a novel to be.
