The Paris Architect by Belfoure - 4 Stars

  This debut novel clearly was written with commercial success in mind.  It is a thriller with plenty of sex to go around.  It would make an excellent film.  It was a great read too.  It is definitely a page turner.  Lucian, a talented narcissistic architect in Paris has never received the big reputation making commissions for commercial buildings.   However, less talented architects have designed these buildings.  It is during WWII and the Nazis have occupied Paris and part of France.   The Vichy government sympathetic to the Nazis is prevalent in the South of France.  Suddenly, one of the richest men in Paris offers Lucian the commission of a lifetime, designing an airplane factory for the Nazis.  There is a catch though.  The rich man, Monsieur Manet, is a Christian with a moral conscience.  He is hiding Jews from the Nazis.  If Lucian wants the commission for the factory, he must also design undetectable hiding places for the Jews who Monsieur Manet is hiding.  Manet offers him a huge sum of money to design the hiding places and Lucian reluctantly accepts.  The Nazis pay him far less for the designs for the factory.  In fact, they pay him a mere pittance.  Money is not the reason he salivates over the opportunity to design a large factory.  It is his desire to see his designs of monumental buildings constructed even if it is for the Nazis.  He wants recognition for his talent.  Without the big commissions he will never receive it.  At first Lucian has no sympathy for the persecuted Jews.  However, he slowly develops a moral conscience which comes to the fore when he designs a hiding place that due to a small design defect results in the death of the hidden elderly couple.  This event crushes him.  In this book we see an ordinary man’s reluctant descent into heroism. Part thriller and part love story, this novel will appeal to both men and women and would make a terrific film.  The main characters in the book are Lucian,his wife Celeste, his mistress Adele,  Adele’s assistant Bette, Major Herzog, Mr. Mamet, Colonel Shlegal, Alain, his assistant, and Pierre, the 13 year old French Jewish orphan he hides in his own apartment. Elements of suspense include the fact that Alain’s German uncle, a member of the Gestapo, forces Lucian to accept him as his assistant.   Though Alain is a talented draftsman, he is jealous of Lucian and tries to sabotage him every way he can.  This includes following up on his suspicions that Lucian is designing hiding places for Jews.