1940, Nazi occupied France. In the middle of a devastating war, how many lives can you save?
'No book this year could possibly compare with The Flight Portfolio: ambitious, meticulous, big-hearted, gorgeous, historical, suspenseful, everything you want a novel to be'
Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less
Varian Fry, a young journalist, arrives in German-occupied Marseille in 1940. He is armed only with three thousand dollars and a list of writers, thinkers and artists he hopes to rescue - so long as the Nazis don't get to them first.
With borders closing around him, Varian tries to track down those on his list - renowned artists like Marc Chagall, who cannot believe that he will ever be unsafe in France. He smuggles them over the Pyrenees mountains and across the sea, but everyday hundreds of ordinary Jewish refugees beg him for help. Does Varian have the right to choose who to save?
Making a list seemed simple, but in the middle of humanity's darkest hour, Varian must do all he can to help. And as the Nazis begin to get word of his secret operation, he must find dig deep and find the courage to rescue as many innocents as he can.
Even though his own life may be in terrible danger.
'Varian Fry lit a small, bright lamp in a world of darkness ... I found the radiance of Fry's courage, flawed humanity, and steadfast resistance shedding an inexhaustible light on our own ever-darkening time'
Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
'Destined to become a classic'
Publishers Weekly
