Charlotte Salomon is born into a family stricken by suicide and a country at war. But there is something exceptional about her - she has a gift, a talent for painting. And she has a great love, for a brilliant, eccentric musician. But just as she is coming into her own as an artist, death is coming to control her country. The Nazis have come to power and, as a Jew in Berlin, Charlotte's life is narrowing, and she knows every second is precious.
Inspiring, unflinching, terrible and hopeful, Charlotte is the heartbreaking true story of a life filled with curiosity, animated by genius and cut short by hatred.
"Foenkinos writes arrestingly about Charlotte, masterfully imagining her interior life . . . So much space on the page visually transforms each paragraph into a stanza, while lending the words a solemn weight and power . . . [A] beautiful, wretched story" - * Guardian *
"From its striking first sentence there is no turning away . . . A far superior tribute to any commemorative plaque" - * Irish Times *
"Each sentence begins on a new line, giving it the deceptive look of a long poem. The success of this approach, loyally managed by Sam Taylor in his translation, is the make Charlotte read as a series of tricker-tape bulletins, delivered in breathless fits and starts" - * London Review of Books *
"Unforgettable, poetic" - * Sunday Independent *
"Heartbreaking. A story about loss and resilience, set in Nazi Germany, Charlotte is an inspiring novel made all the more powerful by being based on a true story about the life of a relatively unknown artist. The ending comes as no surprise, but I still found myself devastated by it" - * Guardian *
"A tour de force. Every important detail and much more of this supreme artist's life . . . is recorded lovingly, passionately, obsessively and lyrically . . . The verse-like narrative . . . produces a befittingly vibrant creativity" - * Jewish Chronicle *
"The reader follows, lump in the throat, fascinated by this tragic fate, which is told with the utmost precision" - * Livres Hebdo *
"Whimsical, heart-breaking and fast-paced" - * The Student *
"Astounding . . . Foenkinos makes us a part of this hopefully growing community: that of the admirers of a young artist named Charlotte Salomon, assassinated when she was 26 years old" - * L'Express *
"A sensitive and deeply moving novel" - * Paris Match *
"Astonishing" - * Le Journal de Dimanche *
"A shocking novel written with rare delicacy and honesty" - * Page *
"Deeply affecting, David Foenkinos' novel is like a song, celebrating the beauty, passion and drive of Charlotte Salomon's life" - * L'Arche *
"Devastating . . . Charlotte is one of these books by which a writer measures himself against the rules of his craft. A gamble which more than paid off for Foenkinos" - * Lire *
"A beautiful homage" - * Le Figaro *
"The charm of this novel can be described in one word: admiration. That of a talented novelist for a genius artist. This feeling gives the book greatness" - * Le Figaro Litteraire *
"The striking portrait of a woman whom the writer can't part with. Not to be missed" - * Nouvelles Semaines *
"Everything in this book is a success" - * Rappels *
"There is no page where the emotion doesn't come through in this poignant ode" - * Phosphore *
"To be read in one sitting" - * Challeges *