The Flight Portfolio

by Julie Orringer

The long-awaited new work from the best-selling author of The Invisible Bridge takes us back to occupied Europe in this gripping historical novel based on the true story of Varian Fry's extraordinary attempt to save the work, and the lives, of Jewish artists fleeing the Holocaust.

In 1940, Varian Fry—a Harvard-educated American journalist—traveled to Marseille carrying three thousand dollars and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to rescue within a few weeks. Instead, he ended up staying in France for thirteen months, working under the veil of a legitimate relief organization to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and set up an underground railroad that led over the Pyrenees, into Spain, and finally to Lisbon, where the refugees embarked for safer ports. Among his many clients were Hannah Arendt, Franz Werfel, André Breton, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Marc Chagall.

The Flight Portfolio opens at the Chagalls' ancient stone house in Gordes, France, as the novel's hero desperately tries to persuade them of the barbarism and tragedy descending on Europe. Masterfully crafted, exquisitely written, impossible to put down, this is historical fiction of the very first order, and resounding confirmation of Orringer's gifts as a novelist.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Historical, France, Holocaust, War

576 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2019

About the author

Julie Orringer is an American author born in Miami, Florida. Her first book, How to Breathe Underwater, was published in September 2003 by Knopf Publishing Group. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her stories have appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, Ploughshares, Zoetrope: All-Story, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Best New American Voices, and The Best American Non-Required Reading. She received the Paris Review's Discovery Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, The Yale Review Editors' Prize, Ploughshares' Cohen Award, the Northern California Book Award, and the Anne and Robert Cowan Award from the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. She was the recipient of a 2004-5 NEA grant for her current project, a novel set in Budapest and Paris before and during the Second World War.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To be in Marseille, not Paris, still carried a certain novelty, a whiff of the unknown. If Paris reeked of sex, opera, art, and decadent poverty, Marseille reeked of underground crime, opportunism, trafficked cocaine, rowdy tavern song. Paris was a woman, a fallen woman in the arms of her Nazi captors; but Marseille was a man, a schemer in a secondhand coat, ready to sell his soul or whatever else came quickly to hand”.

It doesn’t take long to fall in love with Varian Fry... who was an American journalist.
He ran a rescue network in France helping Jewish refugees - and anti Nazi’s -escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust...
He helped between 2,000 and 4,000 people.

Julie Orringer - who wrote
“The Invisible Bridge”.... one of my favorite books...
has written a gripping historical fiction again.
I’ve been waiting - anxiously and excitedly - for years - for Julie’s second novel.
Oh
- it’s FABULOUS!
She educates her readers - while totally transporting us back to a time in history in the most intimate ways.

The year was 1940...
Varian Fry was staying at Hotel Splendide - Marseille, France.
Varian writes a letter to his wife, Eileen, who stayed back in New York.
He tells Eileen that he has a few ( ha- we know it’s much more than a few), projects that he can’t abandon. He feels he must stay longer. He shares with Eileen that he has run into an old friend - Elliott Grant - ( it’s been 12 years since he has seen him).
Varian went to Harvard with Grant and they worked together at the “Hound and Horn”.
He reminds Eileen that Grant was the guy they use to call “Skiff”....
the guy she called “a wet blanket”. Varian tells Eileen she was right....
With only about 10% into the book - I burst out laughing.
As the reader -I was already so involved with the dialogue- feelings and thoughts that Varian had for Grant ( some envious feelings - some distrust- and complex feelings ).
Grant had jealousy feelings, too, but hide them.
“Jealousy seem parochial, retrograde, shameful”.
Varian admits happy to see Grant these 12 years later though (who became a professor of English at Columbia and is now on sabbatical). They will be working together.
Many paths they will walk.

I melted when Varian included an e.e. Cummings poem to his wife - which he once gave her years before as part of his Valentines card. I loved the poem.

One minute - I’m melting over the joy of a touching experience of a man’s love for his wife ....
in another moment I’m melting in a different way -incredibly moved/ *thankful* to the great man: **Varian Fry**.... and his bigger- than-life gifts of freedom to others.
Varian only had $3,000 and a short list of refugees under imminent threat of arrests by the Gestapo, mostly Jews. Many desperate people - including famous artists and musicians- were begging for help - seeking any means to escape.
Varian stepped forward - putting his own life in danger - used his own money -
Julie Orringer’s storytelling feels so frightening and suspenseful and ‘real’ at times. Even letter writing home to Eileen as Varian re-located throughout France - was frightening to him, for the fear of censorship.
In Lisbon, for example he could be censor-free.... but he also entered Lisbon with clients on an escape.

It’s a long book - but so was “The Invisible Bridge”...
Once again -
Reading Julie’s novel was never a chore...or too long. ...
It was a heavenly transporting journey.
Her historical fiction books - both - demonstrates the skill of a journalist - with a flair a soulful artist herself.
I just can’t say enough about this being the best Historical novel I’ve read in a long time.

Julie’s writing is rich, poignant- suspenseful- emotionally felt with indelible characters so vivid and human - that she totally restored my passion for Historical Fiction.

Best not to give too many details away -
If you loved “The Invisible Bridge”...you’ll love this novel too.

Many thanks to Knopf Random House, and to Julie Orringer for her brilliant achievement by her warmth and exquisite prose.

P.S. and who knew that a silver nautilus shirt cuff would be a symbol of love and legacy.



Book to be released in April 2019

[Book of the Month]

Why I love it
by Brianna Goodman

Before I tell you why I *loved* this book, let me tell you why I thought I wouldn’t: 1) It’s over 500 pages, which often makes me wish a book had been more harshly edited. 2) It’s about World War II, and, having read more World War II novels than I can count, I’ve grown tired of tropes that often repeat in these stories. 3) I picked it up during a massive reading slump that left me no choice but to binge-watch Game of Thrones. So when I tell you this book reignited my reading life and restored my fried brain, it’s not hyperbole. This book is just that good.

The Flight Portfolio is a fictionalized account of the life of Varian Fry, an American who saves renowned Jewish artists from the Holocaust by smuggling them out of occupied France. From securing false passports, to bribing police officers, to hustling refugees across the border, Varian and his team risk their own lives daily to save the lives—and works—of now-legendary figures. But when a former flame seeks Varian out to save the life of a boy he knows, Varian finds himself torn between duty and love for the man he never thought he’d see again.

The topics in this book are massive—forbidden love, prejudice, the price of a life—but Varian’s story never feels overbearing; instead, it just feels real. Like 2017 Book of the Year winner The Heart’s Invisible Furies, this novel follows closely the life of a likable man struggling with his identity in an unforgiving world. There are moments of lightness (a Surrealist party conducted in the nude, for starters), and of course, the inevitable darkness. If you too need to be zapped back to life by a really good book, then this big ass, big-hearted novel is for you.

Read more at: https://bookofthemonth.com/the-flight...

[Anne]

I have only read 20% of this novel but am setting it aside for now. I was so excited to learn months ago that Julie Orringer had written a novel about the the work of Varian Fry, a hero of mine. I started reading it as soon as it was published. To my dismay I find that Orringer fabricated a male lover for Fry and fictionalized the essence of the man himself. I wasn't sure about whom I was reading but it didn't sound like the same Varian Fry I had come to know while reading biographies about him. What particularly rankles is Orringer's preoccupation with and dramatic rendering of the love story that drew the focus away from the story of saving refugees. For me, that story is thrilling enough without romantic complications.

The two biographies I mentioned above are: A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry and A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry. These books have the most complete accounts of Fry's work (that I have read).

Update: Several GR reviewers write that this book picks up around page 300. Good to know. Maybe I'll pick it up again one day and give it another try.

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flight Portfolio refers to a collection of art that Varian Fry hopes will help the cause of Jewish artists trapped in early 1940s Europe. But most of his attention is not on the art, but on helping the artists escape Nazi capture. This is an ambitious novel that walks the tightrope of telling a historical figure's documented story while also creating his fictional love life.

Mostly, Orringer succeeds brilliantly. The downside is that the momentum builds very slowly. The pace sometimes frustrated me - for the first 300 or so pages, I was always aware of what page I was on. But my patience was rewarded. This is an excellent, thought provoking novel - given a choice - who do you save? And personally, both for Varian and his lover, what are the costs of "passing?"

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/25/2024 Saw a film about Peggy Guggenheim today and it reminded me how much I loved this book. Guggenheim worked with Varian Fry to get several artists out of occupied France. She doesn't get a lot of coverage in this book but the movie did relay a little of her work during the war.

the review is from 2021
A summary of stars
5—for how glad I am to have read this
5—for an engaging read that taught me much I was unaware of
4—for the writing, a little over dramatic at times and literary embellishments
4—for its length
5—for the characters, story

I chose to read this book as I’d loved The Invisible Bridge Orringer’s previous book that received much more acclaim. This was on my radar when it first came out but received mixed reviews yet seeing that the narration was by Edoardo Ballerini, my absolute favorite audio book reader, drew me back. I often scout new reads by narrator and when Ballerini reads books with strong European settings and language his voice is like listening to clear and pitch perfect music played.

Historical fiction can be tricky especially when the story contains actual persons. As a reader it is often hard to know when history ends, and fiction begins. Orringer weaves an engaging story about Varian Fry, a real journalist who arrived in Marseille France in 1940 with a list of endangered artists who he hoped to assist in evacuating from occupied France. The story builds from there as we learn of artists both real and fictional who Fry assists to escape sometimes over land or sea with often forged visas. Many of the names, like Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt are obviously non-fictional but many of the others sent me searching Wikipedia to determine if they are the author’s invention.
The story itself I found completely engaging to the point that I read most of the 500+ pages in a little over a week. I loved the audio but also got the print to allow me to read when listening was not practical and to see names and places that might have passed me by in audio form.
It does become more of a morality tale presenting the question: Are some individuals worth saving more than others? The story is woven quite tightly around this question.
This quote says it better than I.

“I always thought your project was wrongheaded,” he said. “All that money, all that time, mustered on behalf of people who happened to know how to use a paintbrush or put a sentence together—and don’t mistake me, I know the value of art, I like to read and look at paintings as much as the next guy, more than most guys, if you’ll believe that—but this is a goddamn war, a war, and they’re all human beings, and how can you presume to pick which ones to save and which to throw into the fire?”

Varian Fry did manage to help over 2000 escape the Nazis and for that he has been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations an award given by Israel to non-Jews who risked their life to save Jews during the Holocaust. This novel told a most interesting story about his life and work, and though thls nove in is at times fictional what he accomplished was not and I enjoyed learning about this great man.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orringer highlights the impressive role that Varian Fry played in saving the lives of more than 2,000 refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and the complicit Vichy government during 1940-41. The refugees included such famous personages as Hannah Arendt, Jacques Lifschitz, Golo Mann, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and countless others. Fry went to Marseille as a volunteer for the Emergency Rescue Committee, which initially received support from Eleanor Roosevelt. The suffocating atmosphere of Marseille comes alive under Orringer’s excellent writing.

Orringer recounts the despicable role the Vichy government played in rounding up Jews and other ‘undesirables’ identified by the Nazi government. But, more disturbing is the role that Hugh Fullerton, the consul general, played to thwart the efforts of the Emergency Rescue Committee at the request of Cordell Hull, the Roosevelt administration’s Secretary of State. Fortunately, Hiram Bingham, the vice consul issued visas to the United States in abundance, saving many hundreds of lives.

[Elle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I put a lot of thought into how I was going to review this. I originally rated it as 2 stars, but the more I think about it, the more I have real and serious problems with this book that can't be ignored. There are two main problems with this book. The first is its misrepresentation of what kind of book it is, and the second is how it treats and portrays the legacy of people who existed, who mattered, and who have and had people who loved them.

The first problem: If you read the description of this novel on Goodreads or even Book of the Month club, it will leave you to believe that you are getting a novel about a real historical person who smuggled Jewish artists out of France during the Holocaust. This is the description that lead me to purchase this book. Unfortunately, this is not a book about that, not really. This book is a romance. Coming in at almost 600 pages, this book seems like it would be full of content related to the Holocaust, the artists involved, the methods of smuggling them out of France. Instead, over 300 pages of the book (and this is being conservative) are dedicated to a romance, and not a very good one. The main character Varian Fry pines and pines over a fictional and invented character named Grant. For every page spent talking about rescuing Jews there may be 3 or 4 of Varian reminiscing about his days in Harvard in love with Grant. You will hear about Harvard approximately 5,000 times.

Now, while I am not a fan of romance in general, I understand that it's something that comes with a lot of novels and I am fine with its inclusion. I am fine with same-sex romance as well, and the inclusion of a gay romance does add a lot of intrigue to the book. However, the romance in this book absolutely overpowers the rest of the story. Nothing in the book comes even close to the level of important of Varian lusting after Grant at every opportunity. The book paints the picture that the danger of Jews being put into camps and massacred really isn't a big deal compared to Varian wistfully waxing about, you guessed it, his days in Harvard. At one point in the book Varian is about to get caught and all of the Jews he is harboring are about to be sent to concentration camps. And what is Varian's biggest concern here? The deaths of innocents? Ending up in a camp with his charges? No, he's afraid he will be embarrassed in front of Grant, that Grant will think he's stupid and a failure. In turn, this made me embarrassed for Julie Orringer as an author.

The romance that occurs in this book has no basis in history and really does not contribute anything at all to the plot of the story in any way. It reads like gay faction that Orringer, who is a straight woman, wrote up and then just inserted blindly into the history of some man's life. Like she threw a dart at a list of historical men, and Varian Fry was the lucky loser to serve at her pleasure.

This brings me to the second problem: The treatment of the real people who actually existed and accomplished things. Varian Fry was a man who did what almost nobody on earth has accomplished. And according to his son, he might have been gay. But being gay isn't an accomplishment, it's just who you are. But helping 2,000 Jews escape France who might have ended up in concentration camps and killed? That's an accomplishment, that's what made Varian a hero. Not whether or not he loved another man. Not whether or not he was confused about his sexuality. Those things are find to have in the book in moderation, but the book completely underplays Varian's accomplishments and the great things he did.

The book paints Varian as a buffoon. He is always sitting in various cafés drinking coffee and eating biscuits and complaining about how they taste bad. He's complaining about how other people are revealing his methods for smuggling people out of France while writing whiny detailed letters to his wife explaining exactly how he's doing it. He constantly complains that America isn't sending enough money while throwing lavish parties with other rich people and bragging about how expensive it was while people are starving in the streets. He pines after Grant constantly. He is absolutely obsessed with clothes and appearance and his days at Harvard. Occasionally the book mentions that Varian is a journalist, but at no point does he ever do anything a journalist does. The actual Varian Fry had a very interesting life leading up to the year 1940, but you wouldn't know about it from the book - according to the book he graduated Harvard, then sailed around the world crying because Grant dumped him, kept crying that Grant dumped him, then somehow ended up smuggling Jews????? It's absolutely silly.

Varian Fry existed. He was a real person. His had a family who loved him. There were other characters in the book based on real people who actually existed, had their own hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. But all of these take a backseat to Julie Orringer's gay fanfiction that she could have copied and pasted into any other story, but decided to put it here to ensure that nobody would ever appreciate the heroic actions of people who saved lives. They saved lives! They risked their own every single day to save people. What a great story. What a great bunch of people. People who deserved better than what they got from this book.

I often avoid historical fiction because I get uncomfortable when people ascribe words, motives, and actions to people who were real. I wonder what Varian Fry would think if he could read this book. I'm guessing he would be completely appalled, and that his memories would not in any way match up to what happened here. I feel the need to speak on his behalf here, because someone has to respect him for the man he was, not the man Julie Orringer decided he should be when she woke up one morning and decided to pick one random person from history, erase everything about them and impose everything on them, including a shiny new sexuality that she could play with.

If you want to write romance, write romance. Say that it's a romance in the description. Leave people like Varian Fry alone.

[Kate Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undoubtedly will make my year-end top ten.

[Jennifer Blankfein · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Flight Portfolio, an incredible layered, important work of fiction with a touch of humor, is in some ways a Holocaust story, but more than that, it poses the question, is one person’s life more valuable than another. This survival story is about the Jews, the artists and their art, the people of France, and about prospering in your own skin, having a meaningful purpose and living your truth.

Julie Orringer packs a punch with a multileveled, very engaging story. Varian Fry is a concerned American who dedicates himself to saving famous artists by assisting in their often difficult and convoluted departure from France during the war. While getting proper paperwork and orchestrating possible escape routes by water or through mountains, with authorities on his tail, Fry remains focused on the job he has been given. Except when he is focused on his clandestine electric relationship with his old college lover, Grant, who is also in France searching for his current lover’s son. With a wife back in New York, Fry is torn between the traditional life he could have with Eileen, and the honest but difficult life he would have with Grant. And Grant is struggling too, as he has a secret about himself he has revealed to no one but Fry and he is considering the big reveal which will will have major repercussions.

With the nerve wracking rescue missions, and the compelling hot love story, there is still yet another focus – Fry is handpicking who gets to leave the country and he faces a conflict over executing an escape plan for either a well known artist or an unknown young man who is important to his lover. How do we place a value on each life? Â Was it ok for Varian Fry to save artists while sacrificing others? If only one can be saved, who is to decide?

This moral question is not unique, and today, as we battle Covid-19, many hospitals have had to choose who gets the ventilator, a younger person or an older person, a black person or a white person. Our government must decide which states get emergency funding, what businesses get financial support. Who should get tested first, health care workers, elderly people, residents of lower income neighborhoods?

One could argue that anyone that gets saved is a victory, but the question of worthiness remains. Varian Fry has good intentions and in the novel, when someone from the French government accused him of assisting Jews, anti-Nazis, degenerate Negroid artists and sexual inverts, Fry says, “If I don’t help them, no one will.”

Inspired by the courageous, real life Varian Fry, Julie Orringer tells the story of an American who risked his life to help Jewish artists along with their art escape Nazi occupied France. With the characters’ quests to living lives that are true and honest, and the rescue mission focused on singled out special people, the story begs the question whose life is worth saving. With appearances by Marc Chagall, Max Ernst and Peggy Guggenheim, sophisticated prose, and descriptive storytelling, this serious and occasionally humorous account of a difficult mission kept me coming back for more. The Flight Portfolio was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it.



Additional Reading Suggestions
If you enjoy World War ll stories, check out The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner, At The Wolf’s Table by Rosella Postorino, The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff, In Another Time by Jillian Cantor and The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.

If you are interested in art, check out The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose and On Color by David Scott Kastan and Stephen Farthing.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5) Orringer’s The Invisible Bridge, my highlight from last summer’s reading, was the saga of a Hungarian Jewish family’s experiences in the Second World War; while The Flight Portfolio again charts the rise of Nazism and a growing awareness of Jewish extermination, it’s a very different though equally affecting narrative. Its protagonist is a historical figure, Varian Fry, a Harvard-educated journalist who founded the Emergency Rescue Committee to help at-risk artists and writers escape to the United States from France, and many of the supporting characters are also drawn from real life.

In 1940, when Varian is 32, he travels to Marseille to coordinate the ERC’s operations on the ground. Every day his office interviews 60 refugees and chooses 10 to recommend to the command center in New York City. Varian and his staff arrange bribes, fake passports, and exit visas to get Jewish artists out of the country via the Pyrenees or various sea routes. Their famous clients include Hannah Arendt, André Breton, Marc Chagall, André Gide and members of Thomas Mann’s family, all of whom make cameo appearances.

Police raids and deportation are constant threats, but there is still joy – and absurdity – to be found in daily life, especially thanks to Breton and the other Surrealists who soon share Varian’s new headquarters at Villa Air-Bel (which you can tour virtually here). They host dinner parties – one in the nude – based around games and spectacles, even when wartime food shortages mean there’s little besides foraged snails or the goldfish from the pond to eat.

Like The Invisible Bridge, The Flight Portfolio is a love story, if not in the way you might expect. Soon after he arrives in Marseille, Varian is contacted by a Harvard friend – and ex-lover – he hasn’t heard from in 12 years, Elliott Grant. Grant begs Varian to help him find his Columbia University teaching colleague’s son and get him out of Europe. Even though Varian doesn’t understand why Grant is so invested in Tobias Katznelson, he absorbs the sense of urgency. As Varian and Grant renew their clandestine affair, Tobias’s case becomes a kind of microcosm of the ERC’s work. Amid layers of deception, it stands as a symbol of the value of one human life. Varian gradually comes to accept that he can’t save everyone, but maybe if he can save Tobias he’ll win Grant back.

Nearly eighty years on, this plot strand still feels perfectly timely. Varian is married to Eileen and has been passing for straight, yet he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a homosexual hiding behind marriage to a woman. In fact, the novel makes it plain that Varian was bisexual; he truly loved Eileen, but Grant was the love of his life. Can he face the truth and find courage to live as he truly is? The same goes for Grant, who has an additional secret. Orringer’s Author’s Note, at the end of the book, explains how much of this is historical and how much is made up, and what happened next for Varian. I’ll let you discover it for yourself.

The Flight Portfolio didn’t sweep me away quite as fully as The Invisible Bridge did, perhaps because the litany of refugee cases and setbacks over the course of the novel’s one-year chronology verges on overwhelming. I also had only a vague impression of most of Varian’s colleagues, and there are a few too many Mantel-esque “he, Varian”-type constructions to clarify which male character is acting.

On the whole, though, this is historical fiction at its best. It conveys how places smell and sound with such rich detail. The sorts of descriptive passages one skims over in other books are so gorgeous and evocative here that they warrant reading two or even three times. The story of an accidental hero torn between impossible choices is utterly compelling. I’m convinced, if I wasn’t already, that Julie Orringer is among our finest living writers, and this is my top novel of 2019 so far.

Two favorite passages:

“If we could pin down the moments when our lives bifurcate into before and after—if we could pause the progression of millisecond, catch ourselves at the point before we slip over the precipice—if we could choose to remain suspended in time-amber, our lives intact, our hearts unbroken, our foreheads unlined, our nights full of undisturbed sleep—would we slip, or would we choose the amber?”

“Evening was falling, descending along the Val d’Huveaune like a shadow cloak, like a tissue-thin eyelid hazed with veins. Varian stood at the open window, dressing for dinner; Grant, at the harpsichord downstairs, conjured a Handel suite for the arriving guests. … From outside came the scent of sage and wet earth; a rainstorm had tamped down the afternoon’s dust, and the mistral blew across the valley. A nightingale lit in the medlar tree beneath the window and launched into variegated song. It occurred to Varian that the combination of voices below … made a music soon to be lost forever.”


Originally published, with images, on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected to enjoy this book much more than I did. It was very interesting to learn about Varian Fry, and his mission and that of his American committee to help famous artists, writers, philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, etc. get out of France to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis. And as lovely as the writing is, I found the book dragged and lagged for me in part because of the surfeit of detail. I love detail, but here it seemed that everything, from the smallest to the momentous was equally important and had to be highlighted for the reader to perhaps prove the bona fides of the impressive research performed. There are a host of intriguing characters, and while it's an interesting authorial choice to create a fictional character in a novel about a real person, I had a hard time caring about the long history and new nature of the love relationship between Varian Fry and Elliot Grant. I usually have no trouble suspending my disbelief, but in the midst of all Fry was trying to do, would his absorption with Grant have had the same weight as his humanitarian efforts?

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want this book to end.
Don't Google Varian Fry before reading "The Flight Portfolio." Let the novel surprise you.
Varian arrives in Vichy France in 1940, with $3000, a visa for a few weeks, and a list of Jewish artists he was to attempt to rescue. Fry is a Harvard graduate and a journalist of sorts. He's married to a woman who is a power at the powerful Atlantic magazine, and who is behind much of the the funding for this rescue effort. Arriving in Marseilles, he gathers a group of people around him who bring out his audacious side. Varian finds that he is fearless in getting these people--many of whom are very reluctant to leave- across the border to Spain and off Vichy and the Nazi's radar. His time stretches on, partially because of his heady success and partially because he has reconnected with the man who may be the love of his life.

Julie' Orringer's third novel is masterful. Every page is full, as good as it can be, and riveting. I loved it, and any fan of quality fiction will, too.

[Έλσα · Rating 3 out of 5]

Για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο είχα υψηλές προσδοκίες. Όταν βγήκε, λόγω θεματολογίας, έτρεξα να το αγοράσω. Λάτρης των ταινιών του ΒΠΠ κ των βιβλίων ήμουν σίγουρη πως δε θα απογοητευτώ.

Δεν μπορώ να πω πως δε μου άρεσε ούτε όμως πως μου άρεσε. Είμαι ουδέτερη! Υπήρχαν κεφάλαια που με συνεπήραν και άλλα που με έκαναν να βαρεθώ. Αρκετά φλύαρο σε πολλά σημεία. Το παράδοξο ήταν πως δε με ανάγκασε να το αφήσω. Αυτό που κρατάς όταν το ολοκληρώνεις είναι το μεγάλο έργο του ήρωα Φραϊ που κατόρθωσε να σώσει 1000 εκπροσώπους του πολιτισμού( συγγραφείς, ποιητές, ζωγράφους κ.α.) από τα χέρια των Ναζί.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free publisher's advance review copy.

I have always been interested in learning more about Varian Fry and his impressive efforts to get so many artists out of the reach of the Nazis and their minions. Of course I knew that this book is fiction, but I had the preconception that the fiction characterization would be necessary to assign thoughts and feelings to Fry that couldn’t be verified through historical records. It turns out there is a lot more fiction than that in this book.

Orringer has done a great deal of research and gives us the details of Fry’s work, which is challenging, frustrating, dangerous and inspiring. She also gives us insight into Fry’s humanity and the doubts he sometimes has about many aspects of his mission and about himself. She’s an elegant writer and her descriptions of France, especially Marseilles, are beautiful and evocative. These things are obviously all to the good.

Historical fiction is a risky proposition. The writer is expected to be true to the history, but place fictional characters in among the real characters of the time and place, and use those fictional characters to personalize history for the reader. Orringer has instead fictionalized a real person. That’s alright in principle, but I’m not at all comfortable with where she takes that in this book.

There are some who suggest that Fry had a same-sex relationship in college and may have continued to have homosexual encounters as an adult, though married with children. Orringer jumps into this notion with both feet, inventing a character named Grant, who comes back into Fry’s life in France and rekindles a relationship that leads to a thriller-ish plot. This whole fictional plot comes to nearly dominate the book, and that goes too far for me. It’s an exciting story, sure, but it’s not Fry’s story.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flight Portfolio is an ambitious, well written, lengthy novel using as its framework the life of Varian Fry. However it should be approached as a novel, not a biography, since there is an added key element of Fry's being gay, referenced by professional reviewers, which apparently did not have a basis in fact but is fabricated for plot purposes. It is very effective here since it makes for an exciting, poignant storyline. I admit to not having known about Fry and his organization operating out of Marsailles which facilitated sending some 2,000 artists, thinkers and people deemed important to mankind as a whole to safety in the face of Nazi occupation and the Vichy government. Ms. Orringer writes with a sure hand, her characters breathe as does the city of Marseilles in all its blowsy glory.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ένα εξαιρετικό παράδειγμα μυθιστορήματος που βασίζεται σε πραγματικά ιστορικά πρόσωπα και ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου λογοτεχνικά είδη. Πρόκειται για την ιστορία του Βάριαν Φράι, ο οποίος πήγε στο Vichy της Γαλλίας το 1941 για να σώσει τις ζωές Εβραίων καλλιτεχνών, φιλοσόφων, πολιτικών κ.λπ., οι οποίοι πιθανότατα θα είχαν πεθάνει στα χέρια των Ναζί κατά την περίοδο που οι στρατιές του Χίτλερ κατακτούσαν την Ευρώπη. Η συγγραφέας τον σκιαγραφεί ως άνθρωπο, γεμάτο αμφιβολίες για τον εαυτό του, που δεν αισθάνεται εντελώς άνετα με την αποστολή του (επιλέγοντας ποιους να σώσει με βάση το status τους ως "θησαυρούς" του ευρωπαϊκού πολιτισμού) και, παρόλο που αγαπά τη γυναίκα του, έχει εμμονή με τον παλιό του συμφοιτητή,τον Γκράντ. Βρίσκεται ξαφνικά να ακροβατεί ανάμεσα στην παλιά του συμβατική ζωή και σε μια νέα προοπτική απελευθέρωσης και εκπλήρωσης των απωθημένων του. Η απουσία του Γκραντ πλήγωσε τον Βάριαν σαν χρόνια ασθένεια και τώρα που διασταυρώθηκαν οι δρόμοι τους είναι ικανός να τον εγκαταλείψει ξανά;
Για να ολοκληρωθεί το συγκεκριμένο πόνημα χρειάστηκαν πολλά χρόνια ενδελεχούς έρευνας. Η συγγραφέας έδειξε τον δέοντα σεβασμό στο όνομα του Βάριαν Φράι και όπως λέει και η ίδια : " Φαντάζομαι τον Βάριαν Φράι ως ένα γενναίο και ευφυέστατο άτομο η σεξουαλικότητα του οποίου δεν έμπαινε εύκολα σε κατηγορίες. Ελπίζω πως έτσι θα τιμάται στον 21ο αιώνα και παντοτινά". Ολοκληρώνοντας αυτό το βιβλίο δεν θα μπορούσα παρά να συμφωνήσω απόλυτα.
Η γραφή της αριστοτεχνική, άψογα τεκμηριωμένη, με την απαραίτητη δόση αγωνίας για την έκβαση της ιστορίας καθως και αριστουργηματική ψυχογράφηση των ηρώων. Δεν μου έλειψε τίποτα από το συγκεκριμένο ανάγνωσμα, δεν βρήκα το παραμικρό ψεγάδι και παρά τις 952 σελίδες του δεν με έκανε να κουραστώ σε κανένα σημείο. Θα διάβαζα άνετα αλλες τόσες! Ένα αριστούργημα που ήρθε για να μείνει στην ιστορία ως κλασικό μέσα όμως από μια μοντέρνα ματιά. Από σήμερα δηλώνω θαυμάστρια της Julie Orringer!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up.

This is an exquisitely written book about Varian Fry and his efforts during the Nazi occupation of France to get Jewish artists safely out of France. Fry was an American journalist, working for the Emergency Rescue Committee, seeking ways to get artists and writers to America, when most legal avenues of immigration were blocked to them. Through cunning, bribery and sheer luck, he obtained visas, passports and travel papers, real and forged, to aid in their escape. Some of those he helped were Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt.

In the midst of all this, Fry reconnects with a college friend, with whom he had a serious relationship, but who had disappeared from his life abruptly. Although Fry later married, Elliot Grant was truly the love of his life. Now Grant has a favor to ask: find the son of his current paramour and help to get him out of France. As Fry and Grant rekindle their relationship, forces in France are moving quickly against those whom Fry wishes to help. Eventually, Fry and Grant must make decisions about who they really are and how to live their lives authentically.

There are many real people interspersed among some fictional characters. All are so well portrayed that at times you don’t know who is real and who is fictional. I actually googled one character, only to find out that he was not a real person. Ha!

There are so many issues in this story: who is worth saving and why; how far would you go to save your child; what are you willing to risk to live your life authentically; how many forms can love take, and what will you do to keep it; what are you willing to risk to save others.

Although this is a fictionalized account of Fry’s exploits, it in no way takes away from his actual heroic efforts. In about a year’s time he saved over a thousand people. In 1994 he became the first American to be honored by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations.” Some readers may be put off by his relationship with Grant. That’s on them. It is documented that Fry was conflicted about his sexuality and explored both worlds, although in the 40s, his homosexuality was quite clandestine.

I had to deduct 1/2 star because it took me a while to get into the book. But once I did, I couldn’t put it down. There is also a lot of French interspersed in the book, most of which is not translated, although you can sometimes get the gist of it. It is probably best that the French wasn’t translated, since that might have pulled the reader out of the story, but since I almost flunked French in HS, I found this frustrating. But that’s on me.

I know I mentioned it before, but the writing in this book is just exquisite. At times you have to wonder how she creates such beautiful prose. The pacing is good, and there is enough humor to grant relief from the overall tension in the story. This is not a light read, but it is so worth it.

An absolute recommend.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I thought the story interesting, the author's esoteric style is very off-putting. The author's depiction of homosexual behavior was a caricature - very fussy and stereotypically heavy on preoccupation with clothing and appearance.
The tone of the book reminded me of films of that era (1940s) which could have been effective in setting the scene but the stilted dialogue seemed silly and distracting. Better editing to reduce this overly long book by a few hundred pages would have kept me engaged. Orringer targets the 1% of humanity who knows French, Latin and Greek with her ridiculous overuse of foreign phrases. I guess you need to know the secret hand shake to be a member of her smug/elite coterie.
Get over yourself Julie and get on with the story without constantly trying to impress the reader with your fine, fine education.

[citesc_cu_sufletul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acțiunea romanului "Portofoliul fugii" este plasată în Marsilia anului 1940 și ni-l prezintă pe Varian Fry, un jurnalist american care preia conducerea "Energency Rescue Committee", organizație al cărei scop este să scoată din Franța Republicii de la Vichy elita culturală europeană urmărită de naziști (pictori și scriitori). Lista celor pe care trebuie să-i caute și să-i salveze este deja redactată, dar cei care au nevoie de ajutor sunt mult mai mulți, Varian fiind pus astfel în situația îngrozitoare de a alege, într-un fel și altul, cine trăiește și cine moare. Întrucât fondurile financiare sunt precare, el va crea "Portofoliul fugii", o selecție de lucrări realizate și donate de cei aflați în pericol, aceasta urmând să fie trimisă, expusă și licitată în SUA. Planul pare a fi unul fără cusur, dar totul va fi dat peste cap în momentul în care își va face apariția Elliott Grant, un bărbat cu care Varian a avut o legătură foarte puternică în urmă cu 12 ani și pe care îl credea mort.

Mi-a plăcut foarte mult atmosfera pe care Orringer reușește să o creeze în romanul său, având așa o tentă savuroasă de roman clasic. De asemenea, mi-a plăcut și modul în care aceasta s-a documentat și a țesut o poveste de ficțiune în jurul vieții lui Varian Fry, personaj care chiar a existat în realitate. Recunosc că m-am simțit pe alocuri copleșită de multitudinea de nume și de informații noi pentru mine, dar mi-am îmbogățit astfel și cunoștințele. Ce mi s-a părut deranjant a fost faptul că autoarea s-a axat prea mult pe trecutul și pe viața amoroasă a lui Fry, iar operațiunile de salvare au fost descrise destul de fugitiv. Sunt tratate subtil și subiecte sensibile, cum ar fi homosexualitatea, moralitatea, identitatea rasială. Per total mi-a plăcut și recomand "Portofoliul fugii" cu precădere celor pasionați de partea aceasta a istoriei Franței ocupate de naziști, dar și de viețile artiștilor.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just boring even though the topic was interesting. I could not get past the writing style or sympathize with Varian and Grant. The best part was the reference to Alma Mahler, who I was familiar with through reading Ecstasy: A Novel, an actually good historical fiction that I highly recommend to anyone who can or even can't get through this.

[Kathryn Bashaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Varian Fry is a privileged young man who takes on a seemingly-impossible job. When the Nazis invade France in 1940, Varian and some of his fellow intellectual and economic elites form the Emergency Rescue Committee. Their mission is to save as many European artists and intellectuals as they can, by getting them out Nazi-occupied Europe. Varian takes on the role of the head man in Europe. He bases himself in Marseille, which is part of Vichy France. For those who don’t know, Vichy France was a nominally independent rump French government based in the southern half of the country. Southern France wasn’t officially occupied by the Nazis at this early point in the war, but the Vichy government took their orders from the Germans.

Varian works from a list of important artists, writers and social democrats that he and his friends drew up in New York. The list includes names you’d recognize like Marc Chagall and Andre Breton, and others not so famous. Working out of the port of Marseille, he and his team work to get their targets out via boat or over the Pyrenees. They have to work with black marketers, smugglers, the French police, and various other characters who may be untrustworthy. The American consulate isn’t always helpful.

The best part? All of the above actually happened. Varian Fry was a real person who helped hundreds of artists and intellectuals escape Nazi-occupied Europe. He was also a closeted homosexual.

Orringer’s novel gives Varian a dilemma in addition to the strain of his work: he is a married man, and an old lover of his turns up in Marseille. Varian and Grant Elliott had a passionate affair during their college years at Harvard, which ended badly. They haven’t seen each other in a decade, and now Grant shows up with a new, older lover, Gregor Katznelson, who needs the Rescue Committee’s help to escape Europe. Gregor is also desperate to locate his son and get him safely out of Nazi territory.

There were so many things that I loved about this novel. First, the language is perfect, providing vivid sensory detail and a balance between the various moods of looming darkness, frantic emergency, and the languid gaiety that Fry’s group of surrealists manages to maintain despite the danger. Second, Fry felt so real to me. He carries burdens and secrets beneath his polished Harvard veneer, and he is passionate about his mission. When he makes a tragic mistake and an important target can’t be saved, he is devastated. Third, the personal and moral dilemmas he faces made for excellent, thoughtful reading. Do some lives have more value than others? How do you decide? Whom do you trust? Can Varian even trust Grant? How much risk can you ask others to take? And what risks are you willing to take to live fully and authentically?

Varian Fry has to answer those questions in a crucible, and his story makes for one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. I tend to be a plot-driven reader. I often read books too fast because I’m dying to see what happens next, and because I always have half a dozen other books on my nightstand. But I read this book slowly and with savor, like you eat a perfect slice of chocolate cream pie in little bites, rolling the chocolate and cream around on your tongue as long as you can. And that was with a looming due date at the library AND another book on my nightstand that I am hoping will help me find the voice in my own novel-in-progress. So take that as a recommendation!

Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon....

[Megan L (Iwanttoreadallthebooks)]

I don't think a book has ever left me so confused as to how I want to rate it. Which is why I'm not rating it for now and maybe with time, I will be able to figure out what I want to rate the book. After a brief synopsis, I will explain my confusion.

The Flight Portfolio is a historical fiction novel by Julie Orringer based on the life of Varian Fry. In 1940, France is occupied by Germany and the world is enveloped in another war. Varian Fry, an American journalist, travels to Marseille, France with three thousand dollars and a list of endangered writers and artists that the United States hopes to rescue. While Fry initially plans to stay for a few weeks, he stays in Marseille for over a year. He, along with a small team, work under the guise of a legitimate relief organization to get money and fake documents that will allow the refugees to get out of France through the Pyrenees, into Spain and then eventually Lisbon where they can sail on to America. Fry's life is endangered along with those who are fleeing as he constantly takes risks to ensure that the artists and writers are not victims of the Holocaust and that their works are preserved for the future.

The Flight Portfolio is based on intensive research done by Julie Orringer on the life of Varian Fry. While I had some vague knowledge of who Fry was and what he accomplished, I was very excited to learn more about all he did to save both lives and culture during World War II. And Orringer did that very well as her level of detail and in-depth research allowed for a much greater understanding and appreciation of who Fry was and all that he was able to accomplish. Julie Orringer excelled at blending the fact and fiction together, which made for an incredibly well-crafted seamless narrative. Orringer's writing is impeccable; she writes with authority but her prose is also beautiful which is often hard to accomplish in historical fiction. While I know some readers probably found the Flight Portfolio to be too lengthy, the length didn't bother me and I read the book fairly quickly.

So why am I confused on how to rate it? While The Flight Portfolio is clearly a historical fiction novel, it is also a love story, which I did not expect. When researching Fry's life, Orringer found evidence that suggested Fry may have had relationships with men. Orringer decided to run with it and then created a completely fictional character that served as Fry's love interest throughout The Flight Portfolio. Don't get me wrong, the love story was beautifully written and I really enjoyed the relationship between Fry and this fictional character Grant. However, the love story often became the main focus, with Fry's work becoming secondary. I realize that historical fiction allows for making up part of a real life person's story but I wonder if Orringer went a little too far over the line. I guess I wasn't expecting a love story so that confused me.

I can understand why some readers would give the Flight Portfolio 5 stars and why others would give it 3 stars or less. From a five star rating perspective, the book is both well-written and researched and Varian Fry's story needed to be told. Orringer explored some incredibly important themes of prejudice, the value of a life, and forbidden love in a powerful, respectful and thought-provoking way. I enjoyed learning about Varian Fry's work and I thought that Orringer created a sincere and beautiful relationship between Fry and Grant. (For those readers who thought the author was too explicit in describing their romance, I would wholeheartedly disagree and suggest that they need to get over themselves. The sex scenes were minimal and not explicit at all). From a three stars or less perspective, the synopsis is misleading and that could confuse and disappoint readers. It is both a historical fiction novel and a love story. For those who just wanted historical fiction, the love story may not have been appreciated. And because the relationship was something that Orringer completely made up, readers may not like that it was not based in fact and may feel that it took away from Fry's true story. I do think that the plot sometimes was taken over by the love story and should have focused a bit more on Fry's work in France during World War II.

I thought that after writing a review, I might be able to figure out what I want to rate The Flight Portfolio but I'm still not sure. I think I need some more time to think about what I read. I will say that the Flight Portfolio is a book that I won't easily forget and that I did enjoy as a whole. I loved learning about Varian Fry's life and commend and honor his contributions during World War II. If and when I figure out how I ultimately feel on the book, I will make sure that I rate it.

[Stella Popa · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Portofoliul fugii”
Julie Orringer 5/5
Cred că, în sfârșit, mi-am găsit categoria preferată de cărți. Încă de mult ea se conturase, dar nu mi-am dat seama cât de evidentă este - cărțile cu substrat istoric, iar cele mai inedite sunt bazate pe fapte reale. „Portofoliul fugii” se regăsește printre ele.

Varian Fry este un jurnalist american, care a ajuns în Marsillia anului 1940 cu o listă întocmită în care sunt menționate zeci de nume importante, care urmează a fi salvate din ghearele naziștilor. Preluând conducerea Emergency Rescue Committee, Fry a descoperit cât de infime-i sunt puterile, și cât de lungă, de fapt, este lista celor care-i vor umple Portofoliul fugii, care nu este altceva decât un manuscris cu prețiozități.

„Portofoliul fugii” nu este o carte pentru oricine, pentru că maturitatea sa psihologică și emoțională cere pregătire de câțiva ani buni de lectură. Sunt sigură că ea nu va plăcea homofobilor, plictisiților de istorie și cultură, care n-au auzit în viața lor de capra și mireasa plutitoare a lui Chagall sau reinterpretarea Monei Lisa de Duchamp.

Pentru mine va rămâne cu siguranță un roman memorabil, pentru că am simțit ceea ce îmi place să găsesc în aceste cărți: pasiune, clasă, artă, reminiscențele epocii de aur ale Europei, La Belle Époque care a murit în frunte cu svastica lui Hitler.

Printre momentele de suspans și salvare a personalităților, personajele principale prind contur odată cu acțiunea tot mai încordată, pentru că identitatea socială este o regulă pe care nu ai voie să o încalci, iar pe cea adevărată o ascunzi într-un dulap măcinat de îndoială și regrete. Secretele însă nu se lasă a fi așteptate mult timp, adevărul își face loc mereu, așa cum apa - printre cele mai dure roci.

Varian Fry a existat. Varian Fry a salvat multe vieți datorită inventivității sale, a investiției propriei vieți. El reprezintă cealaltă parte a unei istorii nepovestite în băncile școlare, cine are timp pentru așa ceva, mai ales că e legat de artă?! Prea puțin timp pentru lucrurile mici, însă mai puțin egoism și mai multă umanitate pentru ca această poveste să ajungă la cât mai multe urechi. Poate o să prindem și o ecranizare frumoasă, asemenea istorii sunt sortite să strălucească pe ecranele mari din întreaga lume.

Carte în care banii au alt sens, viața are altă greutate, dragostea nu este doar un cuvânt, soția este loialitatea în persoană, iar cuvântul este sfințit cu fapte bune. Ce aș putea să mai vreau de la o asemenea scriere? Doar să o felicit pe doamna Orringer, să aștept alte creații la fel de bune sau cu un superlativ în capul mesei, doar că aș vrea să îi reamintesc că Goodreads are punctajul maximal de 5 puncte. Aruncați în noi în continuare cu umanitate.

Am o singură remarcă către editură: „Portofoliul zborului” sună mult mai onorific decât cel al fugii, părerea mea. Păcat că nu ați tradus sensul adevărat al cărții prin titlul original.
Cartepedia aduce cărțile bune mai aproape!
#foxbooks #julieorringer #portofoliulfugii #humanitasfiction #recomandarecarte #recenzieportofoliulfugii #cartepedia

[Ari Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novelist's reimagination of the experiences of Varian Fry, an American journalist who worked to smuggle over a thousand leftist, anti-Nazi, and Jewish politicians, artists, and writers out of Vichy France in 1940. Fry saved Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, André Breton, and Max Ernst, and many other famous figures from the Gestapo, and Orringer revels (with a bit too much knowingness) in describing these crossed paths. But she also adds fictional characters to the mix, including the doomed artist Lev Zilberman and especially Fry's former lover from Harvard, the secretive Elliott Grant (Spoiler: Fry's being closeted is comparable to Grant's passing for white).

There are many pleasures here in this long, luxurious read, especially beautiful and evocative descriptions of the Provencal landscapes and Marseille streetscapes. Orringer is careful to portray Fry as a complicated and flawed human being rather than as a marble saint. But this works better as a E.M. Forster-esque or Henry James-y tragic and doomed love story of sensitive aesthetes
than as an Alan Furst-style thriller, because the major nonfictional characters never seem to be truly in serious peril. Orringer's evident affection for the decadent sophistication of a series of dinners and dinner parties and the stuffy superiority and noblesse oblige of Ivy League WASPs ends up muffling the underlying brutality and savagery of the historical setting.

[Tomi]

DNF...hard to review this one. I won it on Goodreads, and I hate to leave a bad review...but...well-written, very poetic. However, I expected a book about Varian Fry and his work rescuing people from Nazified France. Instead, it mostly seemed to be a homosexual (and somewhat explicit) romance between Fry and one of his college friends. Don't know why that would be important to Fry's story. The book held great promise but took a strange turn. Not my taste.

[Γιάννης Ζαραμπούκας · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αριστούργημα!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book at the same time I was reading Mary Gabriel’s newest, Ninth Street Women: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art, an impressive combination of 20th century history and the Manhattan art scene. The influx of Jewish artists fleeing Hitler, many arriving in New York, created a Petrie dish of creativity that developed into the American Abstractionists and the New York School. Flight Portfolio seemed like a perfect companion book, and I was beyond frustrated to discover that the first quarter of the book is given over to Fry’s gay love affair. Later I appreciated the level of complexity that it contributed but as they say, less is more.

Fry’s mandate was to help extricate 200 known artists from Vichy France and into safe keeping. But as Fry soon discovered, the US didn’t want the refugees he was sending. He agonized and “wasn’t going to sit by and watch the European cultural pantheon burn. Benjamin was dead. Others would follow.” The consulate was less than helpful and ultimately obstructive, so much of the financial support for their work came from private donations.

He became so frantic to save these brilliant artists that he began to prioritize who should get out first. The author raises the question of what makes one life more valuable than another one when Fry is repeatedly reminded that life is life, how could he weigh one against another. In fact, the captain of the black market ship he used to smuggle out refugees lectured him: “Here was Marseille’s chief gangster, trader in human capital, disposer of bodies in the Vieux Port, moralizing to him about the absolute value of human life. ‘Thanks Charles, he said, I believe I’ll take myself home now and meditate on that.” He didn’t.

Even Hannah Arendt called him up on it when he told her that he was told to pull out all stops for her. She replied, “Don’t you pull them out for everyone, Herr Fry?” As the Vichy noose tightened, his desperation to save these artist treasures intensified to the point that he was blinded to the desperate measures a father would go to to save his son. If you find the beginning difficult, hang in there because you’ll soon be flipping pages, especially near the end.

[Liviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

with the caveat that it is truly hard to write a second masterpiece and The Invisible Bridge is such a hard book to equal, I was a bit disappointed in this one; when i opened the novel it immediately made me turn the pages and I was very engrossed in it for maybe a third but then it kind of went downhill as it became repetitive and the emotional interaction between Varian and Grant (not to speak between Grant and Katznelson) didn't really work, nor did after a while the immediacy of the Nazi threat as things seemed to work Casablanca style, the French police turned a blind eye if enough was paid and if things became too visible" more bribes would still do etc; the cruelty of US immigration policy and of various officials contrasted well with the efforts of Varian and of the vice consul who helped him till the bitter end and many of the secondary characters (from the famous like the Manns, Chagall etc to the helpers of Varian and even to the crooks of Marseille) were very well drawn and stood out, but overall after a superb third or so, I felt the novel really lost its focus and just meandered until it was hard to care anymore

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a tricky thing to write about a real life historical figure. Orringer succeeds admirably in telling the story of Varian Fry, who helped as many as 2,000 people escape from occupied France during the early days of WWII. (He was expelled from France in 1941.) The beneficiaries of his efforts include artists and writers such as Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt. His actions, heroic though they were, raise the question of whether one life is worth saving more than another. Some of the characters and relationships are fictional, but it all comes together well. Orringer explores Fry’s suspected homosexuality in a time when no one could be open about that. There is much for book clubs to discuss in this terrific follow up to The Invisible Bridge.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can even I say? It takes years of sifting through average, great, and even excellent books to finally dive into a book like The Flight Portfolio, which I may or may not carry with me at all times for the rest of my life, just so I can clutch it to my chest and burst into tears, as I've been wont to do when it comes to this book.

There are no words to describe Julie Orringer's perfect command of the English language. So I'll leave it at that.

I'm just angry at Goodreads, for not giving us the luxury of half-star ratings, if only because now I feel like I need to adjust every single book I've ever read so that this one can occupy one of the few 5-star slots.

Anyway. I love this book so much I can barely breathe.