Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"A beautiful and important book" (The Independent) in the tradition of rediscovered works like Suite Fran aise and The Nazi Officer's Wife, this is the remarkable and prize-winning memoir of a fearless Jewish woman whose beloved bookshop was destroyed during Kristallnacht, sending her on a harrowing fight for survival across wartime Europe. In 1921, Fran oise Frenkel--a Jewish woman from Poland--fulfills a lifelong dream. She opens Berlin's first French-language bookshop, La Maison du Livre, attracting artists, diplomats, celebrities, and poets. The shop soon becomes a haven for intellectual exchange as Nazi ideology begins to poison the culturally rich city. But as time passes and politics darken, Frenkel's bookshop is frequently visited by police officers who confiscate her beloved books.
Frenkel's dream finally shatters on Kristallnacht--The Night of Broken Glass--as Jewish shops and businesses, including La Maison du Livre, are destroyed. She flees to Paris where she witnesses countless horrors: children torn from their parents, mothers throwing themselves under buses, and worse. Secreted away from one safe house to the next, Frenkel survives at the heroic hands of strangers risking their lives to protect her.
Originally published in 1945, and rediscovered nearly sixty years later in an attic, A Bookshop in Berlin is the remarkable tale of one woman whose passion for life and literature helps her survive history's darkest hours as well as a stunning testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Synopsis
WINNER OF THE JQ-WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE "A beautiful and important book" (The Independent) in the tradition of rediscovered works like Suite Fran aise and The Nazi Officer's Wife, the prize-winning memoir of a fearless Jewish bookseller on a harrowing fight for survival across Nazi-occupied Europe.
In 1921, Fran oise Frenkel--a Jewish woman from Poland--fulfills a dream. She opens La Maison du Livre, Berlin's first French bookshop, attracting artists and diplomats, celebrities and poets. The shop becomes a haven for intellectual exchange as Nazi ideology begins to poison the culturally rich city. In 1935, the scene continues to darken. First come the new bureaucratic hurdles, followed by frequent police visits and book confiscations.
Fran oise's dream finally shatters on Kristallnacht in November 1938, as hundreds of Jewish shops and businesses are destroyed. La Maison du Livre is miraculously spared, but fear of persecution eventually forces Fran oise on a desperate, lonely flight to Paris. When the city is bombed, she seeks refuge across southern France, witnessing countless horrors: children torn from their parents, mothers throwing themselves under buses. Secreted away from one safe house to the next, Fran oise survives at the heroic hands of strangers risking their lives to protect her.
Published quietly in 1945, then rediscovered nearly sixty years later in an attic, A Bookshop in Berlin is a remarkable story of survival and resilience, of human cruelty and human spirit. In the tradition of Suite Fran aise and The Nazi Officer's Wife, this book is the tale of a fearless woman whose lust for life and literature refuses to leave her, even in her darkest hours.