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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Alice Austen’s 33 Place Brugmann tells a connected story of surviving—or not surviving—World War II and the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Two of the families that live in the apartment building are related but close quarters (and some nosy neighbors) mean that everyone knows at least a little bit of everyone’s business. Perhaps it’s the American in me but I found that I both longed for the closeness of the relationships that spring up in 33 Place Brugmann and relished my current privacy, since I don’t have neighbors who poke their heads out of their doors to see what I’m up to...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I struggled a bit getting through 33 Place Bruggman. The writing style, while well done, was not a favorite of mine to read. More stream of consciousness type writing that often made me feel like we were just meandering through the plot with no real tangible actions taking place. I think in my head what I thought the book was going to be was something where the characters interacted with each other much more than than did, but with WW2 backdrop. This felt more like separate short stories that overlapped here and there. I did like the perspective of how the nazi invasion of Belgium impacted the day to day like of those living at 33 Place Bruggman. A very atmospheric historical fiction novel, perfect for those that enjoy the intricate thoughts of the characters as they move about their life.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced copy.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced copy.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked the author’s explanation about the fact they had lived in the building featured in the novel themselves it felt circular, grounding the book firmly
I loved the concept of the novel seeing the war from the point of view of all the residents in a block of flats in Brussels . Ultimately I felt that because I was so many characters I didn’t get to really see enough of any one of the characters and I felt a little short changed because of this
There is frequent change of narrator at the start and throughout the novel this left me a bit confused about who I was reading about . there are character headings of the flats and names of the people in the following section, but I only really picked this up towards the middle of the novel.
The author has a clear easily read reading style making the novel and enjoyable relaxing Read
The author has the ability to describe individual characters beautifully so that you felt that they were real people
I would recommend this novel for those who like a historical novel with great character development
I recently copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 11th of March 2025 by Bloomsbury publishing plc.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't think I have ever been to Place Brugmann, despite Brussels being the city where my office is. Belgians are very bad at discovering their own capital. After reading this book I definitely feel like I need to explore that part more.
Alice Austen takes us to wartime Brussels. We follow the inhabitants of -yes- 33 Place Brugmann in our beautiful capital, Brussels (though we would say Place Brugmann 33 over here). They are all trying to navigate the challenges of a new reality where you don't know any longer who you can trust.
The Raphaël family (jewish art dealers who flee in time), Charlotte and her father François Sauvin, Masha who is in the resistance, Colonel Warlemont, Dirk (and his parents)... They are all narrators which contributes to the pace of the book.
Austen's strong suit is definitely her characters: all flawed, all loveable and all seeking, and I loved how they all interact. Some of them are like one big family as Charlotte's mother died in childbirth and the apartment building takes to raise her, others are outsiders even though they bake cake.
All the characters develop throughout the book and you see where their behaviour comes from and why they make the choices they make when faced with adversity. Some of them are in the resistance, some collaborate, others do totally unexpected things (becoming a nurse, a navigator...), as people do during a war. It felt like Austen captured the fear, the uncertainty, the bravery and all the other emotions ver well. It definitely reminded me of the stories of my grandparents.
There are quite a lot of war novels in Flemish literature. It's like this time keeps fascinating us. So having a non-Belgian writer describe it was really interesting. Spoiler: unlike what the book seems to think, there are nice Flemish people who didn't collaborate with Germans. My nan's uncles were just a few of them. Though I must say, Austen's depiction of those 'Flems' was often spot on and had me chuckle. For you to discover what we are like!
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this ARC
Alice Austen takes us to wartime Brussels. We follow the inhabitants of -yes- 33 Place Brugmann in our beautiful capital, Brussels (though we would say Place Brugmann 33 over here). They are all trying to navigate the challenges of a new reality where you don't know any longer who you can trust.
The Raphaël family (jewish art dealers who flee in time), Charlotte and her father François Sauvin, Masha who is in the resistance, Colonel Warlemont, Dirk (and his parents)... They are all narrators which contributes to the pace of the book.
Austen's strong suit is definitely her characters: all flawed, all loveable and all seeking, and I loved how they all interact. Some of them are like one big family as Charlotte's mother died in childbirth and the apartment building takes to raise her, others are outsiders even though they bake cake.
All the characters develop throughout the book and you see where their behaviour comes from and why they make the choices they make when faced with adversity. Some of them are in the resistance, some collaborate, others do totally unexpected things (becoming a nurse, a navigator...), as people do during a war. It felt like Austen captured the fear, the uncertainty, the bravery and all the other emotions ver well. It definitely reminded me of the stories of my grandparents.
There are quite a lot of war novels in Flemish literature. It's like this time keeps fascinating us. So having a non-Belgian writer describe it was really interesting. Spoiler: unlike what the book seems to think, there are nice Flemish people who didn't collaborate with Germans. My nan's uncles were just a few of them. Though I must say, Austen's depiction of those 'Flems' was often spot on and had me chuckle. For you to discover what we are like!
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this ARC
I have read lots of WWII-themed non-fiction and historical fiction over the years, and having spent time in Brussels, this book sounded interesting. The story revolves around the varied residents of an apartment building -- 33 Place Brugmann -- during the time the Nazis invaded and took over Belgium. The author -- who in the aknowledgments says she lived in thie building (not during the war, of course), gives the story more authenticity. The characters are a varied bunch, and thank goodness there was a list and description of them at the beginning of the book, so I could continually go back and refresh my memory as to who was whom.
I thought one of the best descriptions of the situation at the time was that the Nazis captured Brussels very quickly, but the "constraints" on the citizens' everyday lives came one at a time. The most chilling one was the order for all Jews to wear a sewn-on yellow star -- the people who worked in the factory that made them at first had no idea what the stars would be used for.
And although the atrocities and hatred the Nazis perpetrated is well-documented, the author has one scene in a shop where Charlotte, one of the main characters who lives at 33 Place Brugmann, goes into a shop to buy the monthly allotment of butter allowed each resident, but the shop owner will only give Charlotte her share and not her father's. While their heated exchange goes on, a young German officer enters the shop to buy a sandwich and also asks for butter, which the shop owner immediately gives him. Charlotte is fuming, and the German bumps into her on his way out. Later she sees that he has dropped the butter he ordered into her bag. Who would have thought that of the horrible Germans? (This character re-appears in the novel, BTW).
It is scenes like this that kept me reading. I do think there was a lot to keep up with, since the stories of many different characters are told throughout the book. And, obviously, there were characters that were more interesting to me than others (I did skim over parts that I thought dragged). But I give the book four stars because I think the author did an excellent job describing the everyday struggles of living in occupied territory during the war. I thought it was well-written and worth reading.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Grove Press for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this book.
I thought one of the best descriptions of the situation at the time was that the Nazis captured Brussels very quickly, but the "constraints" on the citizens' everyday lives came one at a time. The most chilling one was the order for all Jews to wear a sewn-on yellow star -- the people who worked in the factory that made them at first had no idea what the stars would be used for.
And although the atrocities and hatred the Nazis perpetrated is well-documented, the author has one scene in a shop where Charlotte, one of the main characters who lives at 33 Place Brugmann, goes into a shop to buy the monthly allotment of butter allowed each resident, but the shop owner will only give Charlotte her share and not her father's. While their heated exchange goes on, a young German officer enters the shop to buy a sandwich and also asks for butter, which the shop owner immediately gives him. Charlotte is fuming, and the German bumps into her on his way out. Later she sees that he has dropped the butter he ordered into her bag. Who would have thought that of the horrible Germans? (This character re-appears in the novel, BTW).
It is scenes like this that kept me reading. I do think there was a lot to keep up with, since the stories of many different characters are told throughout the book. And, obviously, there were characters that were more interesting to me than others (I did skim over parts that I thought dragged). But I give the book four stars because I think the author did an excellent job describing the everyday struggles of living in occupied territory during the war. I thought it was well-written and worth reading.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Grove Press for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this book.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked up this book just because I lived many years in Brussels, not very far from the actual Place Brugmann and I was interested in reading about the people who lived there just a 40-something years before me, during the most horrible time of our modern history. I went in with low expectations, curious about how the author would capture our very complicated capital where language and cultures have been colliding for centuries, but which also proved to be a breeding ground for great artists with a penchant for the whimsical, the fantastic, the absurd. And I must say that the author has succeeded brilliantly in capturing this multi-leveled dichotomy that forms the small, strange country I live in.
Then the book took my by surprise to another personal level, as two of my aunts were in the Resistance, brave woman like Masha, who were mere links in a long chain set up to send messages and soldiers over the enemy lines; my grandfather being arrested and questioned about the whereabouts of his daughters. It made my family stories told to me when I was still a child come to life through lifelike and endearing characters like François and Charlotte.
The inhabitants of the building form a microcosm of all the people that still live here today. We all know the gossiping old hag, the seemingly innocuous but heroic father, the easily triggered young bloods, and the artists whose insights and search for beauty and form will always capture the best of the human condition even during the most horrifying moments in time. Also, it is a stark reminder of how fragile civilization is, and how quickly humans can evolve from merely enjoying life to commit unspeakable acts to just survive or protect their loved ones.
I feel the author has delivered a tour de force on all levels: the captivating storytelling, the layered compassionate and horrible characters, the complicated backgrounds and the inclusion of surrealism and magical-realism that very much define that particular time. Place Brugmann will be a book that will linger for a long time, its characters too lifelike to be quickly forgotten.
A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Then the book took my by surprise to another personal level, as two of my aunts were in the Resistance, brave woman like Masha, who were mere links in a long chain set up to send messages and soldiers over the enemy lines; my grandfather being arrested and questioned about the whereabouts of his daughters. It made my family stories told to me when I was still a child come to life through lifelike and endearing characters like François and Charlotte.
The inhabitants of the building form a microcosm of all the people that still live here today. We all know the gossiping old hag, the seemingly innocuous but heroic father, the easily triggered young bloods, and the artists whose insights and search for beauty and form will always capture the best of the human condition even during the most horrifying moments in time. Also, it is a stark reminder of how fragile civilization is, and how quickly humans can evolve from merely enjoying life to commit unspeakable acts to just survive or protect their loved ones.
I feel the author has delivered a tour de force on all levels: the captivating storytelling, the layered compassionate and horrible characters, the complicated backgrounds and the inclusion of surrealism and magical-realism that very much define that particular time. Place Brugmann will be a book that will linger for a long time, its characters too lifelike to be quickly forgotten.
A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Set during WWII, this novel tells the interconnected stories of the occupants of an apartment building. It is a tell of love, survival, and courage. I loved the role that art played in this story and the air of mystery. A wonderful debut that will please fans of All The Light We Can Not See.