Fans of Orringer's Invisible Bridge will love her new title. This fictionalized account of Varian Fry's life is well-written and historically correct.

I was incredibly excited to get this ARC. A fictional telling of Varian Fry's work to help artists get out of occupied France - sign me up. Orringer does a great job with the historical facts and setting. For the fictional aspect, she sets up a few main (false) characters for a queer romance and a critical plot point involving the flight portfolio later on, and I was very excited to see where this story would go. Orringer's portrayal of Fry begins with him realizing he is out of his depth, that he had unrealistic expectations with the work he would be doing in France, and this vulnerability completely endeared him to me.

Unfortunately, as the story develops, Fry's ends up having a plethora of melodramatic meltdowns in regards to his relationship with Grant. Later in the story, he frequently says it's a matter of life or death to speak with Grant after they've had a fight, but considering Fry was dealing with actual life or death matters with refugee artists, I had to roll my eyes...numerous times. It felt like this was an amazing historical tale and romance that had the misfortune to be set to YA Twilight histrionics and even sometimes dialogue. Fry's side of the romance, and the angst involved, simply felt exaggerated to me as a result. He is depicted as such a headcase that he misses the incredibly obvious and accuses Grant of lying to him, when Grant could very well have been lied to in turn and simply told Fry inaccurate information...which is exactly what happened. This glaringly obvious misunderstanding is what broke them up, and the "simple misunderstanding" plot device is a such an overused and tired trope when creating a romantic crisis that I was further disappointed by how their romance was depicted when I had such high hopes.

Ultimately, it was Fry's work with the refugees and the fictional "flight portfolio" that kept me engaged and reading to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Fry's lover, Grant, and his difficulties hiding his race due to societal prejudice in addition to prejudice caused by their queer relationship. I also enjoyed the motley crew of characters that worked with Fry and wish their characters had been fleshed out a bit more. Ultimately, I loved many aspects of this book but wished Fry's romantic portrayal came across a little more balanced.

"The Fllght Portfolio" by Julia Orringer uses as its base the true story of Varian Fry, an American journalist who ran a rescue network operation in Vichy France that helped several thousand Jewish and anti-Nazi refugees escape. Fry was actually the first American to be recognized as a Righteous Gentile. But this is not a biography of Fry; it is a fictionalized account of his activities as well as his fight with himself. The title refers to a compilation of art works created by artists Fry was helping. The Portfolio was intended to show the horrors of the war and to raise money to support the refugee operation. But the apt title also refers to Fry's internal conflict and history of fleeing from his personal relationship with men, particularly the fictionalized character, Elliott Grant. Orringer is a gifted writer and her language and descriptions contribute to making this a meaningful and important work. The book could have easily stood on its own in covering the amazing work done by Fry and his group. Orringer adds the parallel story of Fry wrestling with acknowledging his existence as a gay man. I leave it to other readers to evaluate whether both stories are equally successful.

I came across this book at the same time I was reading Mary Gabriel’s newest, Ninth Street Women: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art, an impressive combination of 20th century history and the Manhattan art scene. The influx of Jewish artists fleeing Hitler, many arriving in New York, created a Petrie dish of creativity that developed into the American Abstractionists and the New York School. Flight Portfolio seemed like a perfect companion book, and I was beyond frustrated to discover that the first quarter of the book is given over to Fry’s gay love affair. Later I appreciated the level of complexity that it contributed but as they say, less is more.

Fry’s mandate was to help extricate 200 known artists from Vichy France and into safe keeping. But as Fry soon discovered, the US didn’t want the refugees he was sending. He agonized and “wasn’t going to sit by and watch the European cultural pantheon burn. Benjamin was dead. Others would follow.” The consulate was less than helpful and ultimately obstructive, so much of the financial support for their work came from private donations.

He became so frantic to save these brilliant artists that he began to prioritize who should get out first. The author raises the question of what makes one life more valuable than other one when Fry is repeatedly reminded that life is life, how could he weigh one against another. In fact, the captain of the black market ship he used to smuggle out refugees lectured him: “Here was Marseille’s chief gangster, trader in human capital, disposer of bodies in the Vieux Port, moralizing to him about the absolute value of human life. ‘Thanks Charles, he said, I believe I’ll take myself home now and meditate on that.” He didn’t.

Even Hannah Arendt called him up on it when he told her that he was told to pull out all stops for her. She replied, “Don’t you pull them out for everyone, Herr Fry?” As the Vichy noose tightened, his desperation to save these artist treasures intensified to the point that he was blinded to the desperate measures a father would go to to save his son. If you find the beginning difficult, hang in there because you’ll soon be flipping pages, especially near the end.

I will not be reviewing this book as I could not get through it. The writing is fine and it is an interesting piece of history but there are just too many characters and nothing to make me care about them. I found myself avoiding having to get back to reading this book and eventually realized it is just not for me.

Sorry.

I loved Orringer’s Invisible Bridge, but was not as impressed with The Flight Portfolio. I was aware of. Varian Fry and his work in Marseille for the Emergency Rescue Committee to get as many artists and thinkers out of France during WWII. I would have preferred more time spent on the details of those efforts, than his homosexual relationship with a fictional character. The focus on Fry’s efforts and his challenges with the Vichy government provided the reader with the best of Orringer’s writing style, well researched and well written.

I did not want this book to end.
Don't Google Varian Fry before reading "The Flight Portfolio." Let the novel surprise you.
Varian arrives in Vichy France in 1940, with $3000, a visa for a few weeks, and a list of Jewish artists he was to attempt to rescue. Fry is a Harvard graduate and a journalist of sorts. He's married to a woman who is a power at the powerful Atlantic magazine, and who is behind much of the the funding for this rescue effort. Arriving in Marseilles, he gathers a group of people around him who bring out his audacious side. Varian finds that he is fearless in getting these people--many of whom are very reluctant to leave- across the border to Spain and off Vichy and the Nazi's radar. His time stretches on, partially because of his heady success and partially because he has reconnected with the man who may be the love of his life.

Julie' Orringer's third novel is masterful. Every page is full, as good as it can be, and riveting. I loved it, and any fan of quality fiction will, too.