AUTHOR: Meg Waite Clayton
This novel of World War II, set in France after the German invasion, was inspired by real-life American socialite Mary Jayne Gold, who used her charms, smarts, and money to help artist and writers escape European occupation. Clayton reimagines Gold as Nanee, a volunteer known as the Postmistress for her courier work with real-life journalist Varian Fry. Nanee, an adventurist at heart, is always looking for ways to help refugees sought by the Gestopo, which leads her to try to free photographer Edouard Moss, a German Jewish refugee imprisoned in Camp des Milles, a man she'd met only once previously yet is unable to stop thinking about.
The book is a fast read, with a good sense of time and place, requisites for historical fiction. Along with the action and intrigue, there is also the compelling attraction between widowed Edouard and Nanee, complicated by Edouard's need to find and reunite with his young daughter Luki. And peppered throughout are discussions about art, the need for it and the philosophy of it. The story is straight-forward while the main characters are complex fully formed They and the story linger in my mind, just the way I love books to end.
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