The Paris Architect

I'm thinking that reading a second Holocaust novel so soon after the last was probably not the best idea. While I thought The Tattooist of Auschwitz, based on a true story, was an uplifting novel that gave me hope, The Paris Architect  by Charles Belfoure was incredibly disturbing. It's about a young architect. Lucien, in Paris who tries to mind his own business, always trying to slide by with everything except his architectural designs. He has not yet achieved much success but he's very excited about designing and seeing his work in its final form.

A former client of Lucien connects him with a wealthy man who promises him design work for the Germans in France if he helps him design hiding spots for Jews inside of homes. Lucien is excited of the possibilities of seeing his designs for factories in France turned into reality. He rationalizes that once Germany loses the war, France will need the factories. He agrees to design the first hiding spot because the idea of pulling one over the Germans through his detailed design work gives him satisfaction.

After finishing the book, I looked to see if this story was based on truth. It was, but it wasn't. Nothing like this is known to occur during the Holocaust, but during the reign of Elizabeth I, when Catholicism was banned, "priest holes" were created to hide priests who were observing their religion in secret. Belfoure is trained in architecture and that's clearly evident in the novel.

This is one of my community book club titles for this year. Who knows when we'll get to discuss it, but this novel has many more talking points than The Tattooist of Auschwitz.