Midnight in Berlin by James MacManus; Thomas Dunne Books/ St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 978-1-250-07949-4; 404 pages; $26.99
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – This is a novel of political intrigue set in Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of World War II. The British military attache in Berlin, Noel Macrae, learns of Adolf Hitler’s plans to invade Czechoslovakia, but cannot persuade the British government led by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to confront Hitler rather than to appease him.
Chamberlain remains steadfast in his appeasement policy even after Macrae reports that ranking German military officers are prepared to topple Hitler’s government if France and England will indicate their willingness to protect Czechoslovakia.
The novel paints a picture of journalists, Western diplomats, and spies gathering information at a combination gourmet restaurant/ bordello where sexual encounters in the rooms upstairs are recorded for possible blackmail purposes by the Gestapo.
A strange, difficult to believe, character is a beautiful young Jewish woman who is forced by the Nazis to serve as a prostitute in this bordello, even though the Nazi regime forbids sexual contact between Jews and “Aryans.” The reason the Nazis want a Jewish woman to ply the trade is to not only to compromise the foreign diplomats who might avail themselves of her services but also any lower ranking Nazi who unwittingly breaks the rules against “inter-racial” sexual contact. Such is the cynicism of the Nazis.
The Jewish prostitute, Sara, stays in the sex trade not only because the Gestapo might kill her if she refuses, but also because she has been told that if she cooperates the life of her brother, who is in a concentration camp, may be spared.
The stories of Sara and Macrae are joined after Macrae visits the dining room portion of the bordello. Sara, Macrae, and the Gestapo all have reasons for wanting the two of them to share intimate relations upstairs.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter-writer’s first and last name and his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)