The Flight Portfolio

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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. 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.” Adding in color and texture through her own imagining, Orringer makes her lead character come to life; he is sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes impetuous and sometimes deeply thoughtful. He is full of quirks and shortcomings, yet he is also entirely sympathetic. If you are looking to get lost in a vivid, deeply feeling work of fiction, look no further. The Flight Portfolio will take you on a journey. It will make you think, make you wonder, fill you with joy... continued

Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.

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GAZETTE: Do you find it harder to blend fact and fiction in a novel like “The Flight Portfolio,” or to create a pure work of fiction as you’ve done in your short story collection “How to Breathe Underwater”? A trio of short works by the Nobel laureate and "greatest writer of American prose of the twentieth century" (James Wood, The New Republic)

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. 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 ). 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.

Yossman, KJ (14 March 2022). " 'Community's' Gillian Jacobs, 'Call My Agent' Star Gregory Montel Set For Anna Winger's Netflix Series 'Transatlantic' ". Variety . Retrieved 10 February 2023. 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.

Tensions rise as Germany exerts its influence on France and avenues of escape disappear. Marc and Bella Chagall, who previously refused to leave, finally agree to flee Marseille. Mary Jayne provides Albert, Petit, Lisa, and Hans with weapons so they can rescue Paul. The group intercepts a prison convoy, freeing Paul and others. However, Petit and a rabbi are killed during the rescue. Varian decides to accompany the Chagalls to the US, and Thomas sadly realizes he's leaving for good. Albert says goodbye to Mary Jayne as she leaves France and he stays to fight in the resistance. Meticulous, bighearted, gorgeous, historical, suspenseful, everything you want a novel to be.”—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Less 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). You wait for those in power to develop a moral compass. You wait to see if a humanitarian really will get convicted for putting food and water in the desert for migrants. You wait for the next election. And the one after that. Sepinwall, Alan (7 April 2023). " 'Transatlantic': The Daring Rescue of Jews From Nazi-Occupied France". Rolling Stone.

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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. From the bestselling, award-winningauthor of The Invisible Bridge comes a gripping tale of forbiddenlove, high-stakes adventure, and unimaginable courage filled with "suspense and tragedy, unexpected twists and deliverance” ( The Seattle Times). • THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX SERIES TRANSATLANTIC If you frequent progressive circles, you have likely encountered some form of this refrain: “If you ever wondered what you would have done during the Holocaust, now is the time to find out.”