Charlotte

' To survive she must paint her story. That is the only way out'

This is a short but very potent book that combines an impressionist view of the short life of Charlotte Salomon, gassed at 26 with her unborn baby in Auschwitz, with the author's meditations on following her traces and how to convey her life in writing.

It's a story imbued with death: so many women in Salomon's family commit suicide, but she clings to a kind of immortality through her autobiographical paintings.

Foenkinos writes in an impressionist style, almost like a kind of prose poem, and this works well to convey something of the abbreviated, fragmented nature of Solomon's life.

This does raise the uncomfortable question of whether some lives are more tragically foreshortened through the Holocaust than others - is the death of an artist more 'important', does it matter more than that of a carpenter, for example? I'd like to think not and read this as one articulation of the story of millions rather than the solitary tale of a lost genius.

A brief but powerful book.

I’d never even heard of Charlotte Salomon before and how pleased I am to have now discovered her thanks to David Foenkinos’ powerful and moving fictionalised biography of her. He claims it is a novel but this seems disingenuous to me, as it is clearly based almost entirely on fact, not least as he drew on her own art as his principal source. Be that as it may, this exploration of her life and work is beautifully conveyed in very spare and simple language – every sentence is on a new line – and the author clearly feels a deep emotional attachment to Salomon. A German artist – but also tragically for the times, a Jew - Salomon was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943 aged just 26. In this concise novel/biography the author has created a memorable and haunting depiction of this talented woman whose work thankfully survived her. He admits to his own obsession with her and his desire to get to know her and walk in her footsteps. This personal approach worked most effectively in making her come alive for the reader. I very much enjoyed the book and also found it a wonderful stepping stone to discovering more about Charlotte Salomon and her paintings.

I actually learned something from this book - I hadn't heard of Charlotte Salomon before and was inspired to look into her art. The story is unusually laid out, and at first glance looks like a long poem. Charlotte's story is both fascinating and tragic, and the author writes with respect and reverence for her work. I thought this worked as both a novel and a biography, and I really appreciated the unique way the story was told.

This is a quietly beautiful, devastating and powerful work which is both fact and fiction (some scenes must be reimagined by the author). It is written in deceptive simple prose but includes statements of brutal honesty. The book outlines the life story of the artist Charlotte Salomon but also about the various family tragedies that the family suffered both before and during WWII. It also touches on the lives of many others who were close to the family through work or love, mainly in Berlin and in Villefranche-sur-mer in the south of France. I came to this novel not knowing very much but unfortunately had read an outline on Goodreads. I think it is best to come to this book without knowing too much about the family background. It is all the more powerful for that.

In writing the book the author visited many of the places covering in the book and talked to the family members of those who knew Charlotte, I felt those sections sat well within the wider narrative and were an helpful addition to the reader. I would highly recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction or art history. Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley