The Forger of Marseille

The Forger of Marseille by Linda Joy Myers is a novel set during the first years of the second World War, 1939-1940. Myers’ novel is meticulously researched historical fiction that focuses on a young Jewish artist who must flee her native Berlin to escape the Nazis and continue her studies in Paris, only to find that she must also flee that city.

Myers novel isn’t only historical fiction. It’s well-seasoned with suspense, intrigue, and a gripping and believable love story, with the stakes raised by the constant threat of the Nazis. Add to all of that, The Forger of Marseille is in every sense a poignant coming-of-age novel. Plucky, talented protagonist Sarah, who at the novel’s beginning is an inexperienced nineteen, must flee her beloved widowed mother and home when she is heckled by members of the Hitler Youth then “rescued” by the unwanted attentions of a lascivious Nazi officer. Her mother immediately understands what Sarah may not yet fully grasp—that unless a dear family friend (musician/father figure Mr. Lieb) can quickly whisk Sarah out of Berlin via train, she will become this officer’s property, in every sense.

From this point forward, Sarah ceases to be Sarah. She will never see her mother again. Myers paints a vivid portrait of the changing times, a harbinger of horrors yet to come:

Through the rain-spattered car windows, Sarah watched her childhood go by—the park she’d played in but was no longer allowed to stroll, its lush tree branches spidery and bare of their leaves. The café where she and her mother had spent countless wonderful afternoons but were no longer allowed to frequent. The art school she’d been turned away from. All of it disappearing behind her.

Sarah becomes Rosemarie and lives in Paris with a comfortable Jewish family. She attends art school and goes on outings with the daughter of the house. At first blush Paris life is exciting. Rosemarie is swept up in the great city with its museums and cafés, but soon the advance of the Nazis can’t be ignored—nor can the war’s impact on the Jewish community. In a smoky Paris café, Rosemarie meets the brooding Cesar, a Spanish Republican who fought against fascism and now must live in exile.

The chemistry between Cesar and Rosemarie is immediate and palpable, their emotions and the connection between them heightened by the danger at the literal gates of the city. As the threat to Jews in Paris increases, Sarah must change her identity again, now taking the French name Simone. When Cesar eventually brings her into his confidence, she begins to work as a forger alongside him and others, creating false papers to help Jews and anti-fascists escape the Nazis.

The pair, along with Mr. Lieb, join thousands of refugees on the grueling trek south to Marseille, where they continue their work for the resistance, forging identity papers at great risk to their own lives. With her art training, Simone is well-suited to the job of forger and more than willing to risk her life if it means saving others.

As she finished each passport, she looked into the subject’s eyes and wished them all good things—the soundest of decisions, the kindest of encounters, the greatest of luck—as they took on their next precarious steps in the unknown. “Good luck to you. George. And you, Marie. Phillippe. Françoise. Celeste. Lucien. Yves.”

With each stroke of the pen, a past was erased and a chance for a future was born.

With The Forger of Marseille, Linda Joy Myers has created believable characters we care about, root for, and empathize with. We want them to prevail, prosper, and thrive against unspeakable evil. The story, which brings awareness to the work of Varian Fry and Donald Caskie—who aided the escape of many refugees during the war—is compelling, suspenseful, and full of fascinating, evocative details about this important time in history that we must not forget.

The novel is also tremendously cinematic; while reading I visualized the scenes in my mind’s eye. I recommend The Forger of Marseille to lovers of historical fiction, World War II aficionados, those who fancy a love story, and fans of coming-of-age, suspense, or spy novels; in other words, virtually any fiction lover should find something to enjoy between the pages of this well-crafted novel.