But this is not Mary Jayne Gold’s personal story. She did not fall in love with an artist named Edouard Moss, who does not exist except in my mind, on the page and, if I’ve done my job well, in your mind and perhaps your heart. She did not as far as I know travel into occupied France to rescue a Jewish girl. I don’t know if she could shoot a pistol, much less do it so well.
This book did, though, begin for me with Mary Jayne Gold, Villa Air-Bel, the artists and intellectuals at Camp des Milles outside Aix-en-Provence, and the efforts of Varian Fry and the Centre Américain de Secours, as well as those of Hans and Lisa Fittko. Other characters inspired by real people include Miriam Davenport, Justus “Gussie” Rosenberg, Marcel “Maurice” Verzeanu, Charles Fawcett and Leon Ball, Lena Fischmann, Bill Freier, and Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV. With the exception of Edouard Moss, the artists and writers named in the novel, including André and Jacqueline Breton and Max Ernst, are based on real people. The depictions here are meant to honor those involved in these rescues, but all, including Varian Fry, are to some extent products of my imagination.
I hope readers will be inspired by this novel to learn more about the real stories that underpin it. Some of the sources on which I relied include Mary Jayne Gold’s Crossroads Marseille, 1940; Varian Fry’s Surrender on Demand; Miriam Davenport’s unpublished “An Unsentimental Education”; Justus Rosenberg’s The Art of Resistance; and Lisa Fittko’s Escape through the Pyrenees. I also relied on the writings of real artists and intellectuals who were rescued, including Lion Feuchtwanger’s The Devil in France; André Breton’s Letters to Aube; Victor Serge’s Notebooks 1936–1947; and Hans Sahl’s The Few and the Many.
Other sources I found particularly useful include the oral history interview with Mary Jayne Gold on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website; Villa Air-Bel by Rosemary Sullivan; Surrealism by Amy Dempsey; The Holocaust & the Jews of Marseille by Donna F. Ryan; In Defiance of Hitler by Carla Killough McClafferty; A Quiet American by Andy Marino; André Breton in Exile by Victoria Clouston; Marseille ? New York by Bernard No?l; and the many wonderful resources made available by the Varian Fry Foundation at varianfry.org, as well as those at AndréBreton.fr, and villaairbel1940.fr.
I am so often inspired by photos. For this book, the single photo called variously Nude Bending, The Ghost Wife, and Salvation was inspired by Lee Miller’s 1930 photo Nude Bent Forward. The photo Nanée purchases when she can’t buy that one is inspired by Francesca Woodman’s haunting 1977 photo On Being an Angel #1, Providence, Rhode Island, the title of which I did not know when I chose it as the model for a photograph I did not intend to title. The scene in which Edouard paints on Nanée’s back was inspired by Man Ray’s 1924 photo Ingres’ Violin; the paint is my own. Edouard’s self-portrait is inspired by Maurice Tabard’s Untitled (solarized face). The caped woman is drawn from a photograph Mac Clayton took in Paris, and the br?laged version of it by Raoul Ubac’s The Nebula. And Nanée’s Beautiful Neck bears an uncanny resemblance to Man Ray’s 1929 Lee Miller (“The Necklace”).
Gratitude to so many people on this one, starting with my editor, Sara Nelson, whose indefatigable dedication and good humor are a writer’s dream, and the whole gang at Harper Books who support me so amazingly, including Jonathan Burnham, Doug Jones, Leah Wasielewski, Robin Bilardello, Katie O’Callahan, Katherine Beitner, Juliette Shapland, Carolyn Bodkin, Virginia Stanley, and Mary Gaule, as well as everyone at HarperCollins Holland and the other foreign offices. Thanks to Joanne O’Neill for the stunning cover, and for her patience. And to my agent, Marly Rusoff, and the intrepid Mihai Radelescu, who help me in so many ways.
To the many booksellers who have been so kind to me and so enthusiastic on behalf of my books—I would call you out individually, but that would make this a very long book. Ditto to everyone at the Jewish Book Council and the many book festivals that have given me a chance to connect with readers.
My Flight Team—Captain Christopher Keck and crew Dylan Rich and Brittney Kaniecki—took me on a virtual flight over Paris to show me Nanée’s view and help me understand what avoiding a bird and nearly stalling a plane at low altitude over the lake in the Bois de Boulogne might be like. Thanks also to Sue Hulme, whose father, David Hulme, owned and piloted a Vega Gull, for sharing with me photos, video, and technical details.
I was so sorry to have missed a hike over the Pyrenees myself despite three planned trips canceled due to flu, record heat, and Covid travel restrictions. I’m grateful to Patrick Jouhanneau and Tom Pfister, who shared their time and photographs with me. Tom also sent me his Eva and Otto, written with Kathy and Peter Pfister, about their parents’ escapes from France; the emotional impact of their stunning book echoes through Edouard’s journey. I commend it to everyone.
I’m grateful for the Camp des Milles Memorial and everyone who had a hand in preserving this history. Also to the many people who made my research in various places as comfortable as home and far more interesting, especially Robin and David Young, who allowed me to stay in their beautiful Paris apartment, and Thomas Chase, who was such a great help there.
The enormously talented Adrienne Defendi helped me with passages on photography. Mynda Barenholtz helped with research. Brenda Rickman Vantrease and Jenn DuChene read for me.
I am so grateful to The Brothers Four—Pat, Mike, Mark, and Dave Waite—for helping our parents in a difficult time as I was writing this book, and to Mom and Dad for so very much support in every way. My sons, Chris and Nick, provided moral support and, in being their wonderfully steady and safe selves, allowed me to set aside a mother’s worries and get words onto the page.
As always, the company of my amazing partner in life, Mac Clayton, made the research trips to France great fun, even as the Berthillon melted faster than we could eat it in that long stretch of record Paris heat. He tirelessly read draft after draft, always providing great suggestions. Truly, without his help, I could not have completed this novel on the schedule I did. His company, love, and patience saw me through the long days of writing this novel in the midst of a pandemic, which I hope will be in our rearview mirror as you are reading this. (Knock wood; Nanée does draw her superstition from my own.)