The Flight Portfolio

By: Julie Orringer

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

The long-awaited new work from the best-selling author of The Invisible Bridge takes us back to occupied Europe in this gripping historical novel based on the true story of Varian Fry's extraordinary attempt to save the work, and the lives, of Jewish artists fleeing the Holocaust

In 1940, Varian Fry - a Harvard-educated American journalist - traveled to Marseille carrying $3,000 and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to rescue within a few weeks. Instead, he ended up staying in France for 13 months, working under the veil of a legitimate relief organization to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and set up an underground railroad that led over the Pyrenees, into Spain, and finally to Lisbon, where the refugees embarked for safer ports. Among his many clients were Hannah Arendt, Franz Werfel, Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Marc Chagall.

The Flight Portfolio opens at the Chagalls' ancient stone house in Gordes, France, as the novel's hero desperately tries to persuade them of the barbarism and tragedy descending on Europe. Masterfully crafted, exquisitely written, impossible to pause, this is historical fiction of the very first order, and resounding confirmation of Orringer's gifts as a novelist.

©2019 Julia Orringer (P)2019 Recorded Books

A wonderful book

A powerful story on so many levels and written so beautifully! The narrator is superb.

Somewhat monotonous.

So disappointed - after her wonderful book Invisible Bridge. The relationship between the men too cloying.

Riveting and Powerful

Wonderful storytelling! Beautifully read. Julie Orringer exquisitely captures this period of history as well as the intricacies and nuances of gay romances in this time period. Very moving.

The Flight Portfolio: Worth Reading

The Flight Portfolio is based on a true story beginning with the main character, Tom Frye , trying unsuccessfully to convince Marc Chagall to leave France as Hitler was already incarcerating Jews. The novel is filled with famous writers along with fictional ones that only enhances the plot. This is both a historical novel as well as a complicated love story. I found the narrator to be excellent which is often the best part of a great Audible book!

Devastatingly Beautiful

A story you can’t wait to know what happens next and can’t bear to end. Beautiful writing, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Real characters struggling, supporting, celebrating and grieving as humans must.