A Bookshop in Berlin

The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape from the Nazis

De: Françoise Frenkel, Patrick Modiano - preface

Narrado por: Jilly Bond

A PEOPLE BOOK OF THE WEEK
WINNER OF THE JQ–WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE

“A haunting tribute to survivors and those lost forever—and a reminder, in our own troubled era, never to forget.” —People

An “exceptional” (The Wall Street Journal) and “poignant” (The New York Times) book in the tradition of rediscovered works like Suite Française and The Nazi Officer’s Wife, the powerful memoir of a fearless Jewish bookseller on a harrowing fight for survival across Nazi-occupied Europe.

In 1921, Françoise Frenkel—a Jewish woman from Poland—fulfills a dream. She opens La Maison du Livre, Berlin’s first French bookshop, attracting artists and diplomats, celebrities and poets. The shop becomes a haven for intellectual exchange as Nazi ideology begins to poison the culturally rich city. In 1935, the scene continues to darken. First come the new bureaucratic hurdles, followed by frequent police visits and book confiscations.

Françoise’s dream finally shatters on Kristallnacht in November 1938, as hundreds of Jewish shops and businesses are destroyed. La Maison du Livre is miraculously spared, but fear of persecution eventually forces Françoise on a desperate, lonely flight to Paris. When the city is bombed, she seeks refuge across southern France, witnessing countless horrors: children torn from their parents, mothers throwing themselves under buses. Secreted away from one safe house to the next, Françoise survives at the heroic hands of strangers risking their lives to protect her.

Published quietly in 1945, then rediscovered nearly sixty years later in an attic, A Bookshop in Berlin is a remarkable story of survival and resilience, of human cruelty and human spirit. In the tradition of Suite Française and The Nazi Officer’s Wife, this book is the tale of a fearless woman whose lust for life and literature refuses to leave her, even in her darkest hours.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Jilly Bond narrates this memoir, written by a Polish–Jewish woman and originally published in 1945. An ardent booklover, Frenkel opened the first French bookshop in Berlin in 1921. When the Nazis rose to power, she fled to France, only to find herself subjected to the restrictions against Jews imposed under the Vichy regime. Bond seamlessly shifts between English and French words, and expertly portrays both sympathetic and oppressive individuals. With subtle vocal shifts, Bond fully inhabits Frenkel's thoughts and emotions as she struggles to save her own life in a fraught political climate. Listeners will sense Frenkel's increasing fear through Bond's expressive narration and varied pacing. A gripping audio presentation of events that should never happen again."

Excellent book!

I found this book quite by accident when I was searching for a different novel regarding the holocaust.

The story was told beautifully and I became quite attached to her story. Next time I'm in Paris I plan to look up some of the locations mentioned.

I was sad to get to the end of this one!

book lover

incredible, what so many had to go through. very interesting. a good book to keep their history alive

Exciting story line

Fine narrator,who b kept up my interest. Fine story line that did not wander. off into the weeds. Clear chronology as epiloge.

Fine memoir. Narrator a bit over the top.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if the narrator had taken it down a notch or two with her dramatics. I kept forgetting it was non-fiction with her theatrics.

it was really sad

its awful to hear about how people were treated back in the day. but grateful for people to write about their problems so other people can learn from it.