![]() ![]() ![]() The novel begins in 1940, just as many Europeans, including Fry, are becoming aware of the mounting atrocities committed by the Nazis. The novel has been praised for its compelling mixture of fiction and fact, illuminating their dual role in transmitting historical truth. ![]() To add realistic dialogue and intrigue to the limited records that exist of Fry’s life, Orringer focuses on his friendship with a fictional college friend Elliott Grant, who appears in Marseille in the midst of Fry’s valiant attempt to stave off the artistic destruction of Hitler’s regime. Notable individuals saved under Fry’s brave leadership included Jewish political scientist Hannah Arendt, Jewish artist Marc Chagall, Surrealist pioneers Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, and Max Ernst. The ERC embarked on a multinational rescue mission, finding Jewish and political dissident artists and intellectuals all over Europe and moving them outside Hitler’s grasp. Set during the Holocaust and World War II, Julie Orringer’s novel The Flight Portfolio (2019) retells the true story of Varian Fry, an editor and journalist who moved to Marseilles, France to join the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC). ![]()
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