I was surprised to see that the great actor Gene Wilder had written a few novels, his first being My French Whore in 2007. Despite the salacious title, this is a simple story of comedic impersonation, mistaken identity, and quaint love. It's hard not to read it without hearing Wilder narrate.
Told in the form of a notebook confession, shy train conductor Paul Peachy leaves his stale marriage in Milwaukee to fight at the German border - it is 1918, towards the end of World War I. Only a Private, he is an asset being able to speak German, and is asked to interrogate a captured spy. When the Germans attack, Peachy escapes into the woods and panics when he is captured - shouting out in German that He is the infamous spy. Brought into the enemies inner circle, he is welcomed by Colonel Steinig and treated like a favoured guest - new clothes, delicious meals, beautiful room, his choice of women. The two men begin a warm friendship based on this deception, and Peachy is introduced to a beautiful French woman, Annie, who wears the heavy makeup of a whore. To please him, she tones down her dress and they begin a tentative love affair. Inevitably, there are close calls when Peachy is almost caught out in his lie - and when his identity is finally revealed, the truth will be the last thing any one wants to hear.
This seemed a slight book (a hardcover the size of a paperback) with an underlying comedic tone I may have assumed, but there is real warmth and depth within it's simplicity. Paul is a coward and bumbles from one event to another while the Germans revel in his perceived noteriety and don't want to know they are being fooled. The relationship between the two men grows quite deep and his affair with Annie remains quite chaste. Far from a novel of wartime, it's a simple story of misunderstandings and intrigues. My initial feeling that the tone was too light changed with each clever turn.
'A short 178 pages, it's a slender novel that can easily be read in one or two sittings, with the end result being eloquent and satisfying.
2007 / Hardcover / 178 pages
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