4 strong, well-told stars

I listened to the audiobook of The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland. I knew about Nazis stealing art works from other countries and a tiny bit about the French resistance. I did not know the story of Rose Valland. The Art Spy is a fascinating account that Young tells with great expertise.

Erin Bennett’s voice was clear and easy to understand. I don’t know French, so I’m going to assume her fluent pronunciations were solid. The German pronunciations had some minor errors that did not affect the quality of the story telling (unless you are semi-fluent in German and were listening very carefully to names of things.) I wish I had a copy of The Art Spy, given the large amount of relevant details to pay attention to. (The listener needs to pay careful attention to get the most out of the story, compared to many audiobooks where careful listening is not as big a factor.) When I looked at a copy of the book it included photographs of Rose and some of the art, which added to the story.

Young wove the story of Alexandre Rosenberg, into Rose’s story. “A young Free French soldier, Alexandre Rosenberg , was fighting his way to Paris with the Allied forces battling to liberate France. Alexandre's father was the exclusive art dealer for Picasso, Matisse, George Braque, and Fernand Léger. The Nazis had taken everything from their family—their art collection, their nationality, their gallery, and their home in Paris.” While interesting, I felt this substory was distracting to Rose’s story. Eventually Young connected the two stories, but at 400 pages, I felt like the book got a bit long because of the large amount of detail. (It always moved along and was well organized!) Cutting or condensing the secondary story would have moved things along a bit better.

I hope they make this well-written book into a movie. You can never have too many heroes, especially female ones, and the world needs to remember the evils of fascism! The book, Rose Valland and Michelle Young deserve a wide audience. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this from beginning to end. What a huge feat of research by Michelle Young and what a talent to make Rose's story not only digestible but unputdownable. A great balance between wider WWII context and specific details from her life.

I received an eARC of this audiobook from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredible, propulsive story recounting beat-by-beat Nazi art looting and the French resistance through its beguiling central protagonist, Rose Valland. I loved the early scenes of Rose's life and the ways she navigated a sexist and elitist museum system in France, especially as a fellow museum worker. The narrative matches the urgency of the war itself and the way it tells the story of the museum evacuation, Rose's escape, and her return is tense, detailed, and fascinating. I appreciated the story of the Rosenberg family threaded in between, giving both a vivid picture of who the art was looted from as well as a broader view of the war. I do wish the eventual direct connection between Rose and the Rosenbergs was fleshed out in greater detail in the conclusion as a more fitting cap to their twin narratives. Similarly, I wanted more about Rose's career after the war, but that is less about the focus of the novel than its success in telling her story.

The audiobook narrator played a big part in how much I enjoyed this. The urgency and emotion of her voice conveyed the stakes of the story she was reading. I almost wanted to extend my work commute to finish the section on the liberation of Paris. This is a really riveting story about the work of museums, the French resistance, and the personal and cultural value of art in our world.

On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum, where she had worked and ultimately spied, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume, co-opted by Nazi leadership, was now the Germans’ final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth—a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanity’s cultural inheritance?

It has crossed my mind quite a few times while reading WWII fiction, how did so much art disappear? Well, thanks to Rose Valland, the world has access to some of the greatest art of all time.

Rose was fearless and determined to save what art she could. She fought and struggled against unspeakable odds to stop the pillage by the Nazis. And believe me, she had quite a few close calls with death.

This is narrated by Erin Bennett. And let me tell you, she had quite the pronunciations. She must be part French because she sounded like it was her first language.

Need a true story which will have you thankful for someone you never knew…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.

I had to take a couple deep breaths during this one. Anything relating to the rise of the Nazi party is hitting a little too close to home these days. Learning about Rose Valland was incredible and humbling-it reminded me that everyone and anyone can be a part of a resistance to tyranny in small ways that are actually incredibly meaningful. It takes bravery and grit. The horrors and injustice in the build up to WWII are on full view. It is a great reminder that there is a slippery slope, starting with the seizure and control over arts and literature.

If you read Monuments Men and enjoyed it, I highly recommend giving The Art Spy a look through.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperOne for access to this title in exchange for my honest review.

This is an incredible story, and very well researched. But as a reader, I'd also say it's very dense, and it's not a book that invites you into the narrative in an easy way. There's a lot of skipping around in the first half of the book that feels, to me, disjointed, and like it needs more editing.

About 50% in, the story really picked up, and I felt like I was there, in the story, and much more engaged.

I both listened to the audio and read a physical copy (I like to go back and forth) and the narrator was fine, but sometimes a narrator can bring a book to life for you in an unexpected way, and I didn't experience that.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc and to Harper Collins for physical galleys for my book club. I think the discussion this week will be really interesting.

Rose Valland lived in Paris during WWII. She worked at the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris. Though women were undervalued in society at that time, Rose worked hard at her job and when the Nazis came to Paris, she stayed. She knew German and could listen to the Nazi art thieves discuss where the art was going and she could also catalog the art that was looted. She was her very own monuments man in Paris. Rose was a lesbian and her girlfriend worked at the U.S. Embassy. Her girlfriend was a British citizen who was eventually sent to a camp for British citizens who had remained in France after the Germans invaded.

While Rose was cataloging the art and keeping track of where precious works were being taken, she was doing it at great personal risk. The Nazis had a plan to send her to Germany so they could assassinate her. She persisted and was instrumental after the war in returning looted art. She was recognized by the French, British, and U.S. Governments for her efforts.

I knew nothing about Rose Valland going in to this book. She was incredibly brave. She was incredibly resilient. She is an example of what people should be in the face of tyranny. I found this read to be timely for so many reasons. But I also found this book insightful and very well written. The author also followed the Rosenberg family - huge art dealers and collectors in France - from their escape from France and immigration to New York and of their son Alexandre, who was forced to stay and fight. He fought for the British against the Nazis. The interweaving of both stories make the book even more interesting as Alexandre and Rose's paths eventually cross after the war.

The narrator was exceptional as well. Her voice was calming despite the horrors she discussed. The pacing was perfect. I would like to see this book in print because I would like to see photos of the people involved and the art that was taken. Some of which was never recovered. If you love art and war and history and mystery, you will enjoy this book.

I've been curious about Rose Valland since she showed up in The Monuments Men, and I was thrilled to come across a book centered on her.