Set in the era of WWII in Paris, the Nazi occupation was brutal. For Jews the gradual erosion of liberties meant that many did not escape in time. Nicole Cassin, a teenager at the time escaped but her parents did not. Owning a small but exclusive gallery, brought the attention of the Nazis, when they started plundering art across Jewish households and the gallery was not exempt. Getting a job there was clever, because Nicole kept meticulous accounts of who took paintings and where.
Fast forward to New York and decades later Nicole enlists Robert an art historian to search for some of the paintings with a few clues she had. Robert unearths not just paintings but a story of subterfuge regarding Nicole’s husband who they believed was dead.
There is a lot of harsh realities to be faced in this book and I took it slow, as it was not easy to read. However much we face or try to face the inhumaneness of man, it is not an easy subject to face.
Sent by Book Whisperer for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley
The beauty of Fatima Portugal.
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