33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen
1939 and the Nazis are about to take over Brussels. Through the eyes of the inhabitants of 33 Place Brugmann, Alice Austen weaves a complex understanding of both history and humanity.
33 Place Brugmann book review & synopsis
If I’m honest, my heart sinks when I see a list of characters at the start of a novel but here my fears of confusion were entirely misplaced because this is a profound, affecting and astounding story that I truly believe everyone should read.
Its structure is fragmented as we get the perspectives of the different inhabitants of 33 Place Brugmann, echoing the fragmentation and displacement of war and the way in which memory works. It is art student Charlotte Sauvin who provides the consistent narrative strand and whose journey of self-discovery is at once intimate and universal.
It is inspired that Charlotte is colourblind. Her ability to see shades of light and dark, with myriad tones, is a true reflection of what life is like. As war leeches metaphorical colour from the lives of the characters, Charlotte’s way of viewing the world becomes increasingly appropriate and pertinent. In fact 33 Place Brugmann is a beautifully written and terrifyingly prescient image of where we are right now in the world, never mind as it was in the Second World War. Alice Austen has the ability to distil modern perceptions and fears into the most exquisite prose that is imbued with meticulous historical research, making it an almost magical reading experience.
33 Place Brugmann is so immersive that it’s hard to put down
The story is so intense, so captivating and so impactful that I found I needed to take breaks as I read because I was completely affected by it. 33 Place Brugmann is somehow both intimate and universal at the same time. Not a word is wasted, and every one of those words feels perfectly selected. This means that the story of and the people in 33 Place Brugmann seep into the soul of the reader. It sounds ridiculous, but reading this book is an almost physically painful experience.
The sense of place and history is immersive and convincing, but the most eloquent aspect of the story is the way the characters come to understand themselves. There’s an affecting sense that none of us know quite what we might be capable of until we are faced with making a decision.
Brutal, beautiful and quite, quite brilliant, 33 Place Brugmann is not to be missed. It’s a story that resonates long after it is read.
33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen is out now (Bloomsbury, £15.29).
Read more fiction reviews by Linda Hill including Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney, A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft, Foster’s Mill by Val Wood, All I Want For Christmas by Karen Swan, City of Silk by Glennis Virgo, Things We Lose In Waves by Lucy Ayrton and Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings.
