6.8 /10 1 Votes
Publication date 15 October 2013 ISBN 978-1596910423 Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Preceded by The Indian Clerk | 3.4/5 Goodreads Pages 272 Originally published 15 October 2013 Page count 272 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Two Hotel Francforts is a fictive biographical novel by David Leavitt, published in 2013. It is Leavitt's eighth novel. The book is set in Lisbon in 1940. It follows two couples who meet by chance while they are staying in one to the cities two Hotel Francforts, awaiting safe passage to America during the first summer of World War II.
Reception
Alex Preston from The Guardian gave a favorable review, concluding the novel "should establish [Leavitt] again as one of the major voices of contemporary fiction. Moving, ravishing and fiercely ambitious, this is a novel to treasure. Stephanie Cross from Daily Mail called it an "evocative and atmospheric novel". Michael Pye from The New York Times stated the decision to use the backdrop of Lisbon in World War II (which was one of the very few neutral, open European Atlantic ports, and a major gateway for refugees to the U.S and for spies), and to use famous figures such as Aristides de Sousa Mendes as background props, was a brave and risky move. Pye noted some historical errors in the book, though praised it for its compelling "love story that could happen anywhere at any time".