This is the third in Frederik Nath’s trilogy of novels
taking place in France during World War II. I received it from The Bookplex for review.
I recently read the previous volume, Farewell
Bergerac and liked it very much. I
also liked Francesca Pascal, but I have to say that I didn’t find it quite
as satisfying a read as I’d hoped.
In Nath’s author’s
note that is appended to this novel, he wonders if he’s portrayed Francesca
Pascal believably since he’s never previously written from a woman’s
perspective. He has no need to worry on
that score. She was both credible and
appealing as a mother, an independent woman and an artist. I admired her courage. Participation in combat is not the only mark
of courage. Sometimes courage is the
ability to endure. Endurance involves always remembering who you are. Francesca
Pascal maintained her sense of identity in the forefront of her mind no matter
what happened.
Although I believed in Francesca as an artist, her obsession
with the painting “Paysage Le Mur Rose” by Matisse is a total mystery to
me. I thought I might get a handle on
her conviction that it represents France if I looked at it online, but I still
have no clue. Such ideas are very
subjective, of course. I personally find
certain paintings of the French countryside by Van Gogh more emblematic. I wish that Nath could have expanded on
exactly what it was about “Paysage Le Mur Rose” that meant so much to
Francesca. It would have given me more
insight into her character.
The portrayal of
Francesca’s gay friend, Charles, was a disappointment to me. He seemed to have so much potential at the
beginning of the book, but over the course of the narrative he disintegrated
into stereotype. Stereotypes have a
basis. People do behave stereotypically
in real life, but in fiction stereotypes aren’t very interesting to me because
they are a predictable element. I imagine that the reason for taking the
character of Charles in such an obvious direction was to provide Francesca with
a dramatic inner conflict. Yet I think
that Nath had an opportunity to do something innovative with Charles, and he
threw that chance away. If Nath had
chosen to develop Charles differently, he could have had his own storyline
focused on his perspective. I realize that this would have required a
completely different structure for this book, but I think it would have been
more memorable.
To find out more about "Paysage Le Mur Rose", see Wikipedia on Paysage Le Mur Rose where you can take a look at the painting and read about what is known of its actual history.
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