Book Blurb:
It’s 1939, and all across Europe the Nazis are coming for Jews and anti-fascists. The only way to avoid being imprisoned or murdered is to assume a new identity. For that, people are desperate for papers. And for that, the underground needs forgers.
In Paris, Sarah, a young Jewish artist originally from Berlin, along with her music teacher and father figure, Mr. Lieb, meet Cesar, a Spanish Republican who knows well the brutality of fleeing fascism. He soon recognizes Sarah’s gift. She will become the underground’s new forger.
When the war reaches Paris, the trio joins thousands of other refugees in a chaotic exodus south. In Marseille, they’re received by friends, but they’re also now part of a resistance the government is actively hunting. Sarah, now Simone, continues her forgery work in the shadows, expertly creating false papers that will mean the difference between life and a horrifying death for many. When Mr. Lieb is arrested and imprisoned in Les Milles internment camp, Simone, Cesar, and their friends vow to rescue him, enlisting the help of American journalist Varian Fry, known for plotting the escapes of high- profile people like Andre Breton and Marc Chagall. In this enlightening and thrilling story of war, love, and courage, author Linda Joy Myers explores identity, ingenuity, and the power of art to save lives.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/cgUOY3e
Author Bio:
Linda Joy Myers has always been haunted by the power of the past to affect people in the stream of time. She learned about World War II through her grandmother, a passionate Anglophile who would rhapsodize about the unfairness of war. Together they watched stark black and white documentaries about the war when Linda Joy was thirteen, and later this led to a passion about history which she integrated into her own struggles with intergenerational trauma and her work as a therapist and a writer.
As founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, Linda Joy is the author of four books on memoir writing. The Power of Memoir and Journey of Memoir help writers find their way to their healing stories. Her two memoirs Don’t Call Me Mother, and Song of the Plains have won the Bay Area Publishing Association Gold Medal award and the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book awards.
The search for layers of truth to help inform current generations about WWII led Linda Joy to explore the mostly unknown history of Vichy France in the weeks following the fall of France. Her new book is inspired by Varian Fry’s memoir Surrender on Demand and Donald Caskie’s The Tartan Pimpernel, and by the daunting courage of unknown and unnamed people who helped to save the lives of thousands of refugees, British soldiers, and other lost souls during the cruel and chaotic outbreak of the war in France. The most helpful books to find the “inside” secret stories of that place and time were memoirs.
When Linda Joy isn’t writing or editing, she loves to travel, tends 30 rose bushes and is developing her extensive garden. Her two kitties, Harvey, a Maine coon, and Charlie, a Norwegian forest cat, like to sit on her desk and dangle their paws over the keys. Her children and grandchildren have learned more WWII history than most, and she writes about history with the generations in mind.
Linda Joy’s memoir links: www.namw.org and www.writeyourmemoirinsixmonths.com.
To learn about The Forger of Marseille and what inspired it: https://theforgerofmarseille.com .
Editorial Review:
“His name is passed around in the shadows and back alleys through word of mouth. He knows it can be only a matter of time until it’s passed to the Gestapo. Still, he works through the night, almost every night now. He wipes the sweat on his brow with an ink-stained handkerchief.”
There is so much to this novel – the threat of war, the horror of the Nazis, the loss of identity. But there is also an appreciation of art, the vibrancy of Paris, and handmade violins. Such a juxtaposition seems so incongruous, but readers of “The Forger of Marseille” will see and appreciate the masterful way that Myers writes of the joy of European life, before it was crushed under the weight of war and indiscriminate death.
The story starts with the bleak reality of Sarah, a young Jewish art student who must leave her mother and all she knows in a desperate bid to protect herself from further harm. The incidents described are Sarah travels with an older family friend to Paris, in an anxious journey where their forged papers are scrutinised again and again, and where people around them are not so lucky. The reader is only a few chapters into the story but already it is gripping. Tension builds steadily, with danger either lurking or plainly in sight. The story is a well balanced mix of nostalgia, historical reality and even romance, as Sarah has to find her way in a world of constantly shifting allegiances and threats. The whisper of potential betrayal is ever present as Sarah moves in dangerous circles - in a time where perhaps every circle is dangerous and no one is safe.
“Through the rain-spattered car windows, Sarah watched her childhood go by—the park she’d played in but was no longer allowed to stroll, its lush tree branches now spidery and bare of their leaves. The café where she and her mother had spent countless wonderful afternoons but were no longer allowed to frequent. The art school she’d been turned away from. All of it disappearing behind her.”
Identities change throughout the novel as wartime leads Sarah on unexpected paths (and different names!). The reader cannot help but think how any young adult would fare in a similar situation, cast away from all she has known, whether in war or in peace. The lingering sorrow of such a forced decision is ever present.
“Laughing girls ran past them, their dresses swirling as they leaped and twirled. Women dressed as if they were on a fashion show runway walked little white dogs. Every day, Paris wrapped its arms around Rosemarie, but it couldn’t ease the pull of what she’d left behind. The loved ones she’d left in Germany were with her every moment, always on her mind, even showing up in her dreams.”
Although some characters are fictional, historical figures are also included the novel. Yet again the reader is left in awe at the knowledge of how, at a time of such darkness, so many people risked their own lives to assist people, to forge documents, to hide and help strangers to safety, to stand up to tyranny. While reading such a book as “The Forger of Marseille” is confronting given the times in which it is set, the real-life examples of personal bravery stand as a tribute to those who risked, and gave, so much.
“One by one, she read through the folders, as if introducing herself to each person within. Men. Women. Old. Young. People with talent, deep intelligence, and infinite promise. They’d used their voices, spoken out, and taken risks for their beliefs in democracy, the right to speak freely. Some of these people weren’t famous—they were simply stateless and Jewish.”
It would be easy for such a book to focus only on a character such as Sarah and her peers, on the vibrance of youth, of romance, of grand artistic ideas crushed by war. The prominence of the older Joshua/Josef, and his quiet, steadfast courage is a welcome addition to the narrative and differentiates “The Forger of Marseille” from many similar tales. The character arcs of both Sarah and Joshua are authentic and keep the reader’s eyes firmly fixed on the page. There are also a range of secondary and other more central characters, including Cesar, a Spanish forger. Each of them are distinct, with credible roles in the narrative. The dialogue throughout the book seems natural, and true to each individual character, particularly within the interactions between Sarah, Cesar and Joshua. The settings, people and historical realism of Myers’ novel all combine to give the reader a vivid glimpse into wartime Europe and the choices individuals must make to save themselves and others. A memorable read.
*****
"The Forger of Marseille" by Linda Joy Myers receives 4 ½ stars from The Historical Fiction Company
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