The Mistress: Library Edition

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Summary: A Penetrating Look At Nazi Occupied Paris. A Thrilling Read!
Review: "The Mistress" is an apt title for this novel, even though it may be misleading for those who are looking for a romantic read. Philippe Tapon gives the reader a penetrating look at Paris during the Nazi occupation through the eyes of a doctor, Emile Bastien, and his mistress, Simone. Dr. Bastien, specializing in the treatment of stomach ailments, is an equal opportunity doctor, accepting both French and German patients, including those from both the Gestapo and the Resistance.

Bastien lives with Simone and his two children in Paris. His wife, Marie resides on her estate in the south of France, racing horses, tending her vineyards, and nursing her bitterness and rage at the husband who has betrayed her. Simone is Bastien's nurse, secretary, housekeeper and nanny, as well as his jaded lover. Their love petered out long ago. They live very well in the war deprived city and Simone continues to stay with the sometimes abusive doctor out of self preservation. Where else is she to go? Self-preservation is something that Simone excels at. She is privy to all her lover's secrets and when he makes a move, during the final days of the occupation, to revenge himself against the Nazis, she has her own alternate plan.

Tapon's novel is tautly written in elegant prose. He tells a tale of betrayal and revenge against the backdrop of paranoia and fear that is Paris in 1944. His small cast of characters are cunning and duplicitous. Everyone is out for themselves in this dog-eat-dog world that the Third Reich created. I found myself unable to put this gripping and original novel down. I recommend it highly.
JANA

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Summary: The New York Times loved it for a reason
Review: book I've read in some time. As another reviewer said, it reads like a hokey wartime story. There is no sense of place and no character development. Tapon's sophmore effort is stilted and uninspiring. This would make excellent bedtime reading-for an insomniac.

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Summary: WUNDERBAR
Review: How odd the last reviewer's comments are! The characters in this short novel are well-rounded, totally believable, totally French . . . The story is gripping, original, diabolical, and moves swiftly forward. It's so realistic in a gritty hallucinatory way--that the only soft spot in the story for me was Simone's dream sequence (pages 140-45), which I thought was distracting. "Hokey Nazi flic," reader from Rhode Island? Couldn't disagree more! The novel reads like an art film in your head. I don't think it would translate as well on the silver screen.

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Summary: Do not waste your time or money
Review: Simone is the lover of Dr. Emile Bastien who practices medicine on the rue de Maubeuge. A family man, Dr. Bastien treats Parisians and their German occupiers alike. Simone knows things about Emile's son and daughter (and about the wife who has hidden herself away on a French country estate) that would prove very dangerous if known by the Germans. Simone doesn't know everything though, and when she feels wronged, retaliates by hatching a plan of her own involving a guilt-ridden SS officer, a suspicious death, and a chilling interrogation. Set in a war time atmosphere of fear and paranoia, The Mistress is a deeply engaging, cleverly crafted novel by master storyteller Philippe Tapon.