A Jewish Girl in Paris: a book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
It is now over 75 years since the end of the Shoah and World War II. One wonders how many more novels have yet to emerge. This is one of the better ones.
Imagine being summoned to your father’s death bed. It is 1982 and you are in Montreal. He extracts from you a promise to find a half-sister, Judith, you knew nothing about. You have been raised as an only child to discover that there is a sibling who was born before. For another 25 years, Jacobina has chosen not to pursue the story, not helped by the fact that besides a name, Jacobina has been given no information about Judith- is she still alive; where does she live- nothing! The story is spread over some 60 years.
The novel follows a well-known style of being set in at least two locations and two time periods. It begins in Montreal when Lica Grunberg summons his daughter. It then flips back to Paris when the Nazis occupied Paris, and finally, it is situated in Washington DC, where Beatrice, who is a disenchanted French diplomat working at the World Bank, meets Jacobina and becomes her researcher to help find the missing Judith.
To add to the complexity of the story there are two love stories- one involves Judith and the other Beatrice, who meets a young Frenchman, Gregoire, who is working on the tracing desk at the US Holocaust Museum.
The novel is based on a true story, including a love story in the middle of Paris in World War II between a young Jewish girl and a Christian whose father has thrown his lot in with the conquering Nazis, which does have an impact on Judith.
There are a number of twists and turns as the story develops. As one approaches the end of this novel one thinks that the ending will be obvious only to have two variations which most, if not all, will be surprised with.
This novel was a fast, easy read and the ending was surprising but don’t turn to the end to find out what happens. The whole story is well-written and interesting.
Jeffrey Cohen is associated with the School of Medicine (Sydney), University of Notre Dame Australia as well as on Staff at St. Vincents’ Private Hospital, Sydney. He has previously held academic appointments at UNSW Sydney and St Louis University. He served as CEO of the Sydney Jewish Museum for 5 years and is a Senior Consultant to Museum Planning Services.
