This novel is set during the Nazi occupation of Paris and takes place almost entirely at the city’s famed Ritz Hotel. Its protagonist, Frank Meier, is a fictionalized version of the real barman (of the same name) who worked at the hotel at that time.
Frank’s customers used to include luminaries like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, but when the Germans marched in, most of them fled. A few have stayed — Coco Chanel, the fashion designer; Sacha Guitry, the actor and playwright, and Barbara Hutton, the American actress. Frank is in love with a married guest of the Ritz, Blanche Azuello. She, Frank, and Luciano, Frank’s assistant, are all Jewish, but are staying in Paris with papers that say they are Christians. As the novel goes on, the situation becomes increasingly dangerous for them all.
The narrative is interspersed with passages from Frank’s diary, which give the reader further insight into the character’s feelings about his coworkers and the guests at the Ritz. Frank becomes involved in a scheme to get papers to Jewish families trying to leave France, and he risks his life more than once to do so. Meanwhile, he is also serving the Nazi officers who increasingly frequent the bar.
The Barman of the Ritz is not only an engrossing story, but also a study on the collaborators in Vichy and in the Occupied zone. Many French thought that Marshall Pétain would be their savior and were disappointed when he gave in to the Germans so easily. Many resisted in their own ways, as Frank does. But others take advantage of the situation to improve or keep their social status. Coco Chanel, for instance, has a German officer as a lover. When Paris is liberated, she hands out bottles of Chanel No. 5 to the incoming Americans for their wives and girlfriends, hoping to escape the label of collaborator. Madame Ritz decides that she will do what she must to keep the hotel open.
Most of the characters in the book are real people and the dilemmas are real, too. Frank embodies the quandaries faced by the Parisians. On the surface, he is a friend of the Nazi officers who come to the Ritz, but in truth he despises them, especially when Blanche is arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion of being Jewish.
The Barman of the Ritz is a suspenseful and deeply thought-provoking read.
Jill S. Beerman grew up in New Jersey and attended Montclair State University. She has a doctorate in American Studies from New York University. She taught high school and college for twenty-five years.
