3.5 Stars
This novel, set during World War II, focuses on the residents of an apartment building in Brussels. They are a diverse group of people of different ages and from different backgrounds. There’s a Jewish family, the Raphaëls, who disappear one night, leaving everything behind but their valuable art collection. There’s a Russian immigrant and a widowed war veteran. There are a number of students, including Charlotte, a colour-blind art student. There are professionals: an architect, an art dealer, an attorney, and a notary. There’s a nosy busybody. Once the Nazis occupy the city and life becomes more difficult with restrictions on movement and food rationing, each resident must choose whether to submit to the regime or resist. Some people make sacrifices and endanger themselves to save others and some people betray others to save themselves.
There are multiple points of view. At least one person from each apartment provides his/her perspective. This narrative technique provides an opportunity for the reader to encounter the thoughts of the best and worst of people, both heroes and cowards. Though they are not narrators, the Nazis are also represented, and even there, we see differences – a Nazi officer who shows compassion more than once and a collaborator who shows none to either human or animal.
There’s a disjointed feeling to the novel because of the constant shifts between so many narrators. What also affects the narrative flow is the insertion of dreams and visions, sometimes in stream-of-consciousness passages. Charlotte, for instance, at the beginning of the novel sees that “blood is seeping out under [the massive church doors], too, flowing from the church and flooding the square. Blood is everywhere. The passersby wade through blood, and it spatters their pant legs and skirts, but they take no notice.” This vision obviously symbolically foreshadows what is to come, but others are less clear.
What is also less clear is the philosophical musings. There are repeated references to Wittgenstein and I found these less than interesting. Charlotte dislikes Wittgenstein’s writings and comments, “I’d rather read a magical book with the illusion of a beginning and an end. Not pithy little bursts that force me to consider every damn sentence.” When encountering another discussion of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, I found myself agreeing with Charlotte.
Charlotte is a central figure in the novel. Her point of view is included several times, and it is her life that provides considerable action to the plot; she’s involved in the romance story and the most suspenseful scenes. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to relate to her. Others speak so highly of her, but I found it difficult to grasp her personality. For me, she remains an indistinct character, always hazy and lacking definition.
There are quite a few coincidences which troubled me. Julian’s arrival at Herman’s apartment stretches credibility. And then there are the connections among Dirk and Putzeis and the Gorilla and Masha.
I have read quite a bit of historical fiction set during World War II, but I believe this is the first set in Brussels, so I learned a great deal from this book. I learned about the VNV, the Flemish nationalist party which became the leading force of political collaboration in Flanders during the German occupation of Belgium. I also learned about the 1943 solo bombing of the Nazi headquarters in Brussels by Jean de Selys Longchamps.
Though there are elements of the book I did not enjoy, it does offer a look at how Nazi occupation affected ordinary people whose survival was threatened in many different ways. It also inspires the reader to consider how s/he would react in similar circumstances. Would one choose submission or resistance? Some statements certainly made me draw parallels with current events in the US: “When we stop trying to understand how others see the world, when we lose our compassion, our empathy, we become animals. Worse than animals” and “Elected. The meaning of the word has changed for me since [the election of Hitler]. Or else my understanding of my fellow humans’ basic intelligence has changed. I don’t know if it will come to shooting, but I know it might.”
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Sounds interesting.
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