I visited Bordeaux, France, recently. This is a very old city and has a quite complex history. About all I can personally attest to from my experience is that, nowadays, Bordeaux seems to be a lovely place:
- There are many interesting places to see and visit
- There is quite good public transit to get around
- All the local people I met were extremely friendly
- The food is great (try the Caneles)
- There's a lot going on: throughout the city I saw construction cranes and crews at work and lots of activity everywhere
As I often do, when looking forward to visiting a place, I sought out some books to read ahead of time. For this approach to work, of course, it is necessary not just to pick some books, but to actually read them!
Based on that criteria, I feel that Allan Massie's books were a resounding success. Massie wrote a four-book series of novels set in and around Bordeaux:
The books are often referred to as the "Superintendent Lannes Mysteries", a very fair phrase, as they follow our hero Superintendent Lannes of the Bordeaux Judicial Police as he wrestles with a series of brutal crimes.
But the books could be just as easily categorized as historical fiction, since:
- They're set during World War II
- They're arranged chronologically
- They follow an entire collection of characters, not just Lannes
- The historical events and major themes of the World War II experience play an extremely large role in the books.
The last point is particularly important, I think. The books cover a period of time during which Bordeaux, and France as a whole, underwent many social changes. In the first book Bordeaux is a thriving city in the French Republic, but during the series of books France is: attacked by Germany; divided into various zones; occupied by German troops; administered by Petain's Vichy government; home to a Resistance movement; delivered from occupation by Allied troups; and re-formed under the De Gaulle administration. In addition to Petain and De Gaulle, Mitterand and other famous historical figures feature prominently throughout the books.
Massie also explores many important social themes. The experiences of Jews in Bordeaux is examined in many ways. There is also a lot of discussion of homosexuality and how it surfaced during the wartime years. Another major theme is the way that people in Bordeaux experienced contemporary events such as Fascism in Spain and Communism in Russia. Different characters react to these pressures in different ways: some join groups such as the Resistance, or the Vichy government, the French Foreign Legion, etc.; some become collaborators; some escape France for Africa or England; some become smugglers and black-market operators; many simply just try to survive.
And, of course, there are mysteries to solve! Superintendent Lannes and his team must find and interview witnesses, collect evidence, develop theories, and attempt to ensure justice is upheld. As much as they can.
Massie's plotting is tremendous, and his characters are vivid and believable. The action is nearly non-stop. Many of the events are tragic, but Massie does well to remind us that life during wartime in an occupied country is, still, life. So there are the occasional lighter events, even a touch of humor at times. And, of course, this is Bordeaux, France, so there's wonderful food and even greater wine ("Bring us a bottle of St. Emilion, please"), and lots of vivid depictions of buildings, plazas, streets, and other bits of the Bordeaux landscape.
Massie is not without flaws. For one thing, at least in the printings I read, he sorely needed a good editor, or at least a reliable proof-reader; there are far too many typos and missing or duplicate words and inaccurate punctuation dotting the pages of all four volumes. But that's a quibble, and was rarely more than a momentary distraction.
Significantlly more distracting, unfortunately, is that Massie's dialogue, though nicely colloquial, is English colloquial. "Jolly good, old chap" says one French policeman to another, a line that Just Seems Wrong.
A thousand pages is quite a bit to read, and it took me a significant amount of time to make it through all four books. I read the first two before I took my trip, was reading the third book while in Bordeaux, and didn't even start the fourth until I got back home.
But I don't regret any of that time, not even a moment. When I think back about Bordeaux in years to come, I'll certainly remember what a lovely trip I had, but I'll also always see Bordeaux at least partly through the eyes of Superintendent Lannes of the Bordeaux Judicial Police.
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