There are few periods of history I find more riveting then Paris in the 20s and 30s (I'm hardly alone in this). What a fascinating period of history to write about, and Francine Prose does just that in Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, a story told from varying view points by colorful characters; a visionary photographer, his rich baroness art patron, his brave – if insecure – lover, his best friend and future famous Hemingway-esq writer, and the present day biographer of the central character, Lou Villars, who tries to reach back through time and interpret all the events.
The title refers to a photograph that launched the career of the photographer, Gabor Tsenyi: two women, lovers, lean against each other at a nightclub table. One is slight and pretty; the other-dressed like a man, with cropped hair and a heavy build-stares into the distance.
The latter person is Lou Villars, whose life is the general focus around which every narrative is wound, an extraordinary athlete, a famous race car driver, and finally a Nazi torturer and interrogator during the German occupation of France.
The book reads quickly because you are so engaged in each story (also I love novels where each character's insight provides a new take on the same situation). Prose does a good job of showcasing Paris from the height of the Jazz Age through the terror of the Nazi invasion, and also raises questions about the difficulty of discovering historical truth and the unreliability of narrative. Check it out on Edelweiss.
– Annie