Just as Lucien Bernard founded the corner at the Rue La Boetie, a man running from the opposite direction almost collided with him.
He came so close that Lucien could smell his cologne as he raced by.
Description:
The running man is immediately shot by Nazis soldiers simply because he was running in a suspicious way. His blood is lightly spattered on the coat of the narrator on his way to a job interview and potential building commission.
So begins The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure, immediately portraying the tension and random violence in Paris during the occupation by the Nazis. This scene and the novel are narrated by Lucien Bernard, a talented architect who, due to the current chaos in his city, can no longer find commissions to design new buildings.
But an opportunity arises. He is asked by Auguste Manet, a wealthy Parisian industrialist, to create an ingenious hiding place in an apartment for a Jewish man fleeing the Nazis. This hiding place must be clever enough to be undetectable by probing Nazis. Lucien knows that any Jew caught hiding would be shot immediately, along with the person hiding the Jew, the creator of the hiding place, and anyone else in the apartment building. To Lucien, Manet is "asking me to commit suicide."
But Manet sweetens the deal. His factory, now under Nazi control to produce weapons, needs to be undergo a major expansion under some lucky architect's design and direction. Hint, hint.
So Lucien faces several conflicting decisions. Should he create a hiding place for an unknown Jew which could result in many deaths including his own? But with this project comes a chance to design a major factory expansion which would feature his talents and be standing long after the war is over. Then again, this factory would create weapons to kill Frenchmen and other allied soldiers. But on the other hand, good money paid to the factory's architect along with other perks.
Lucien takes the commission and succeeds with both the hiding place and factory design. But the triumph of this "one-time" deal soon brings another request from Manet to design another hiding place along with a promise for another major factory expansion commission.
To further complicate Lucien's life, his mistress is also the lover of the Gestapo officer leading the search for the wealthy Jews Lucien and Manet are hiding. Herr Schlegal will stop at nothing to discover these Jews: terrorism, interrogation, torture, and random murders under his direction strike fear into the Parisian citizenry and Lucien as well.
Can Lucien stop himself creating the hiding places and therefore lose the other major projects? Can he give up the luxuries of a car, black market food, clothes, and more provided by Manet and the grateful Jews he hides? What happens when he realizes that real lives are at stake, that his work is not simply a mental challenge to create clever buildings and hiding places?
The Paris Architect is a nail-biting story of everyday people facing lives of constant tensions and dangerous conditions. They walk the delicate balance between collaboration with the Nazis and working to assist Jews they never have met and have no respect for. Author Belfoure skillfully depicts their struggles with moral, ethical, monetary, and egotistical factors which hinder their ability to decide. And, of course, permeating every decision is the nervous awareness of the consequences each character (and many other people) might reap for their actions.
Happy reading.
Fred
So begins The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure, immediately portraying the tension and random violence in Paris during the occupation by the Nazis. This scene and the novel are narrated by Lucien Bernard, a talented architect who, due to the current chaos in his city, can no longer find commissions to design new buildings.
But an opportunity arises. He is asked by Auguste Manet, a wealthy Parisian industrialist, to create an ingenious hiding place in an apartment for a Jewish man fleeing the Nazis. This hiding place must be clever enough to be undetectable by probing Nazis. Lucien knows that any Jew caught hiding would be shot immediately, along with the person hiding the Jew, the creator of the hiding place, and anyone else in the apartment building. To Lucien, Manet is "asking me to commit suicide."
But Manet sweetens the deal. His factory, now under Nazi control to produce weapons, needs to be undergo a major expansion under some lucky architect's design and direction. Hint, hint.
So Lucien faces several conflicting decisions. Should he create a hiding place for an unknown Jew which could result in many deaths including his own? But with this project comes a chance to design a major factory expansion which would feature his talents and be standing long after the war is over. Then again, this factory would create weapons to kill Frenchmen and other allied soldiers. But on the other hand, good money paid to the factory's architect along with other perks.
Lucien takes the commission and succeeds with both the hiding place and factory design. But the triumph of this "one-time" deal soon brings another request from Manet to design another hiding place along with a promise for another major factory expansion commission.
To further complicate Lucien's life, his mistress is also the lover of the Gestapo officer leading the search for the wealthy Jews Lucien and Manet are hiding. Herr Schlegal will stop at nothing to discover these Jews: terrorism, interrogation, torture, and random murders under his direction strike fear into the Parisian citizenry and Lucien as well.
Can Lucien stop himself creating the hiding places and therefore lose the other major projects? Can he give up the luxuries of a car, black market food, clothes, and more provided by Manet and the grateful Jews he hides? What happens when he realizes that real lives are at stake, that his work is not simply a mental challenge to create clever buildings and hiding places?
The Paris Architect is a nail-biting story of everyday people facing lives of constant tensions and dangerous conditions. They walk the delicate balance between collaboration with the Nazis and working to assist Jews they never have met and have no respect for. Author Belfoure skillfully depicts their struggles with moral, ethical, monetary, and egotistical factors which hinder their ability to decide. And, of course, permeating every decision is the nervous awareness of the consequences each character (and many other people) might reap for their actions.
Happy reading.
Fred
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Williams, Eric. The Wooden Horse
Historical account of an escape from a World War II prisoner of war camp. As thrilling as The Great Escape for the tension in planning, building the tunnel, and then surviving the escape. A forgotten book that should be revived by anyone interested in bravery, cleverness, perseverance, and audacity.
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