publication date: June 6th 2024
The Tailor of Granville — synopsis
Historical fiction Paris 1937 — freshly arrived from Oswiecim in Poland, Noah Vogelsang is an apprentice at Adèle Katz's clothing workshop in the 2nd arrondissement., The 17-year-old Polish-Jewish young man discovers French culture and falls in love with Odette Harcourt, a client of Adèle’s. Noah knows that a love story is impossible because he plans to return to Poland at the end of his training. However, on the recommendation of his daughter, Mr. Harcourt, who runs a tailoring workshop in Granville, on the Normandy coast, hires Noah as an assistant at the end of the internship. The latter meets Odette again and his feelings for her have not changed. But Odette is married…
“The Tailor of Granville” tells the story of the Harcourts, a family from Granville, from 1937 to 1947. The war and the German occupation shapes the destiny of this family of small artisans.
Press release:
“I am a French-German author born in 1966. I have lived in Normandy since 2017 not far from Granville which is used as the setting for this novel. As I am passionate about 20th century European history, the idea for La Granvillaise came to me during Covid19 lockdown. I put my first draf aside to complete my other projects first. In 2022 I started proper research which culminated with an online course with the Auschwitz Memorial. I then visited Drancy, consulted the Manche archives online as well as several specialized sites and works. I have visited Granville several times. In July 2023, I was able to write my first synopsis.
Throughout my research, however, I saw my story unravel and so I made many changes and adaptations. With a historical novel, one needs to write a story based on real events. This novel is intended for the general public but, considering its theme of the Holocaust and the Resistance, I would not recommend it for children under thirteen.
At one point I felt that my project was not up to the events taking place and indeed, how could I write a novel about the years 1939-1945 without seeming trivial, cliché or sensationalist? How not to drown my story in the great History. How to portray real people and differentiate them from fictional characters? I did not want to imitate a survivor's memory. This is why in February 2023, I consulted with the Oswiecim Synagogue Museum as well as historians of the Auschwitz memorial and received encouraging feedback. Beyond the theme of the Shoah, it is also the story of the Harcourts who suffered the Occupation and became witnesses of the Liberation in their small coastal town in the English Channel.
The biggest challenge was to construct an authentic and dignified story and to make it a novel with endearing and captivating characters. By following the thread of their particular destinies, I think the reader is taken on a journey through time that still resonates today.
Bibliography
Theresa Solana - Irena Sendler
Patrick Bertrand - Granville 1939-1945
Patrick Coiffier - Rouen 1940-1945 1543 jours d'occupation
La Presse de la Manche - Guerre et occupation dans le Cotentin
Godfrey Hodgson - People's Century
G.E. Lessing - Nathan der Weise
Roland Dorgelès - Vacances Forcées
articles:
Les Chemins de la Mémoire - La cuisine sous l'occupation
Archives de la Manche - Les juifs de la Manche sous l'occupation
Auschwitz Memorial - The Arrival
Franck Lemonde - Moses Mendelssohn
Archives Départementales du Cher - Chroniques des mesures antisemites en France
Wikimanche - STO dans la Manche
Illinois Holocaust Museum - Holocaust Misconceptions
Konrad Kwiet - The Liberation of Auschwitz
Aaron Hass - Survivor Guilt in Holocaust survivors and their children
Florent Le Bot - Dans les filets des Spoliateurs
Danielle Kupecek - Raymonde et les siens
Amit Acco - British Mandate Passports
Catherine Nicault - Juifs de France et émigration vers Palestine
Musculoskeletal Key - Standing and walking with lower paralysis
Musées
Musée des arts appliqués -Paris
Musée Christian Dior - Granville
Musée Richard Anacréon - Granville
Musée de la Résistance - Granville
Archives de la Manche - Saint-Lô
Mémorial de Caen (débarquement)
Mémorial de Drancy
Mémorial du Vel d'Hiv (Paris)
Auschwitz Memorial
Muséum of the Synagogue - Kazimierz, Krakow
Musée of the Synagogue - Oswiecim, Poland
La Granvillaise (song from Normandy)
fictional characters
Odette Harcourt - seamstress from Granville
Monsieur Harcourt - Odette's father, a tailor from Granville
Noah Vogelsang - a tailor and artisan-embroiderer from Poland
Moses Vogelsang - Noah's father
Sara Vogelsang - Noah's mother
Timothée Constant -Postman in Granville
Maxence et Rébecca - two chidren
Adèle Katz - Parisian artisan
Madeleine Richard - Adèle's travel saleswoman
Boaz Schafi - artisan working with Adèle Katz
Shana Schafi - artisan working with Adèle Katz
Anatol Klein - Noah's childhood friend
Tiphaine Devalère - young woman from Coutances
Nathan Lévy - employee of the l'UGIF
Simon Baum - German haberdasher
Fernand - shop assistant in an antique's shop
Gaston - postman from Lorraine
Simon and his grandfather - Noah's travel companions
Kommandant Dornier - German officer
real people mentioned in this novel:
Léon, Armand, Rodolphe Bobulesco - Jewish family from Granville
Famille Goldenberg - Jewish family from Granville
Famille Veesler - Jewish family from Granville
Maurice Marland - Member of the French Résistance in Granvile
Monsieur Godal - Mayor of Granville
Juliette Daumel - shop owner, member of Résistance in Granvile
Georges Ronceray - city hall employee, member of Résistance in Granville
Charles Passot - mechanic - member of Résistance in Granville
René Longle et Léon Lamort - members of Résistance in Granville
Jacob Hennenberg - resident of Oswiecim
Dawid Blitzer - resident of Oswiecim
Ester Lahat - resident of 'Oswiecim
Chaim Wolverman - resident of Oswiecim
Famille Schönker -factory owners, Oswiecim
Famille Gerstner - bakers, Oswiecim
Famille Haberfeld - factory owners, Oswiecim
Famille Bodner - resident of d'Oswiecim
Jan Skarbek - Priest at the Assumption Church, Oswiecim
