The Vienna Writers Circle by J.C. Maetis

When needing a book to represent Austria for Rose City Reader‘s European Reading Challenge aside from the rare memoir or work of history I’ve always chosen historical novels. Looking back over the years I can see Aharon Appelfeld’s Badenheim 1939 takes place on the eve of World War II while Elisabeth de Waal’s The Exiles Return not long after the war’s conclusion. Selden Edwards’s The Little Book, Frank Tallis’s Death and the Maiden and Laurie Zico Albanese’s Stolen Beauty are all set during the golden years of Vienna’s fin de siècle. Also set in Vienna but during the time of Mozart and Salieri is Laura Lebow’s The Figaro Murders. Reading wise, when it comes to Austria evidently I have a preference for historical fiction.

The latest historical novel set in Austria I’ve read for the European Reading Challenge is J.C. Maetis’s The Vienna Writers Circle. Published this year, it tells the story of Mathias Kraemer and Johannes Namal, two Vienna-based writers, cousins and members of a local salon of writers and intellectuals lead by Sigmund Freud. Then in 1938, after Germany’s annexation of Austria their afternoons spent discussing books and ideas over coffee and pastries at Café Mozart come to an abrupt end. After Gestapo agents begin arresting Jews across Vienna they’re forced to adopt new identities in hopes of hiding their Jewish heritage. Even with the assistance of those with the courage, expertise and resources to help them the cousins struggle to stay one step ahead of the Nazis, knowing full well failure will result in almost certain death.

With the feel of both a detective story and spy story by default I’d call this a thriller. Without revealing too much there’s tons of intrigue, a plot twist or two, evil villains and a bit of action. If you’re like me and love historical thrillers by the likes of Alan Furst and the late Philip Kerr then chances are you’ll enjoy this one.