(POLL BALLOT) A Bookshop In Berlin / Françoise Frenkel - 4****

[Book Concierge]

A Bookshop In Berlin – Françoise Frenkel
Digital audiobook narrated by Jilly Bond
4****

Subtitle: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman’s Harrowing Escape From the Nazis
In 1921 Frankel – a Jewish woman from Poland – opened La Maison du Livre, Berlin’s first French bookshop. It was popular with artists and diplomats, celebrities and poets. But by 1935 the city was in the grip of the Nazis – first came bureaucratic hurdles, then police inspections and book confiscations. In November 1938 came Kristallnacht, when hundreds of Jewish shops and businesses were destroyed. Frankel fled to Paris. But she was hardly safe for long.

Originally titled No Place To Lay One’s Head this has been re-issued with the popular “bookshop” title – certainly a marketing strategy. There’s virtually nothing in the memoir about the bookshop, and little about Berlin.

This is not to say that Frankel’s memoir isn’t worth reading. I was engaged, interested and riveted by her tale. The many near misses and constant uncertainty would break many. I marveled at her tenacity, determination and sheer will to survive.

Jilly Bond does an excellent job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has very clear diction. I don’t speak French, so am not certain, but her French pronunciation sounds authentic to me.

The text version includes numerous notes at the end, including copies of correspondence and a review of Frankel’s original memoir. I was surprised to learn from these appendices that she was married; her husband is never mentioned in the book.


LINK to my review