From Publishers Weekly
On the night of December 2, 1945, Robert Denoel, whose distinguished publishing house was facing charges of collaboration with the Germans, was shot to death on a Paris street. The murder was never solved by police, who initially conducted virtually no investigation. In her first book, Staman, with a master's degree in French and humanities, deftly probes the mystery of the publisher's death, her research leading her to a trove of revelatory documents sealed for decades by the French government. The events she recounts have the makings of a terrific literary detective drama, with walk-on parts by such colorful figures as Ana‹s Nin and featured roles for avant-garde literary figures like Louis-Ferdinand Celine (Denoel's star author) and Antonin Artaud. For the most part, Staman crafts the tale skillfully, vividly portraying characters like Deno‰l's socially ambitious mistress (also mistress to poet Paul Valery) and placing events in the larger context of Paris during the Nazi occupation and the purges of collaborators that followed the city's liberation. But there is a major flaw in Staman's narrative: she insists on inserting herself into the tale, believing her process of research and discovery to be as interesting as Deno‰l's story. Readers will quickly tire of her imagined reconstructions of various scenes ("Of course, I attended the premiere of Les Cens," a play by Artaud) and the insipid dialogue she recreates. Which is too bad, because for those interested in Paris and its publishing scene before and during WWII, Staman's tale has many rewards. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Robert Denoel was born in Belgium in 1902 and came to Paris in 1926. In 1928, Denoel started his publishing company and launched several important authors in France, including Ray Bradbury, Jean Rhys, and Jean Genet. Denoel published anti-Semitic works as well as the works of Jews and Marxists. When he was on trial for Nazi collaboration, he won the prestigious Goncourt prize for a publication by Elsa Triolet, a Russian Jew. In December 1945, Denoel was on the way to the theater with a woman when his car got a flat tire. He was found shot and killed, but robbery did not seem to be the motive. First-time author Staman's report of the investigation reveals a tale of crime, betrayal, and coverup. Staman follows the lives of the major people in Denoel's life, including Gaston Gallimard, a publishing rival who acquired Denoel's company after his death; Jeanne Loviton, also known by her pseudonym Jean Volier, who was Denoel's friend and ran the company following the murder; and C‚cile Denoel, Robert's wife. The language of the narrative is that of a storyteller and should appeal to the general reader. In addition, the book is well researched with material from libraries and archives in France, Belgium, and the United States. Recommended for biography collections and those that have an interest in true crime and literary murder mysteries. Mary Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll., WheelingCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In the late 1920s, Belgian-born Robert Denoel opened his first publishing house in Paris, France. Although known as a volatile industry, the publishing business seemed to suit Denoel's keen sense for selecting high-quality manuscripts and recruiting talented writers that larger houses had overlooked. By the late 1930s, his company boasted some of the finest new writers in France. Shortly after World War II, Denoel was found shot to death on a Paris street with the money in his wallet untouched. Documents recently unsealed by the French government propelled Staman to begin painstaking research piecing together the rise and fall of this fascinating figure. She discovered sordid details worthy of fiction--duplicitous women, greedy colleagues, and a postwar witch-hunt for collaborators--but, sadly, the true life of a man who lived and breathed the written word. Staman works through Denoel's life like a savvy detective and successfully builds the case leading to his murder into an earth-shaking--but plausible--climax. This is a spectacular example of riveting research. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Using sensitive documents recently unsealed by the French government, Staman explores the life of Robert Denoel from his dramatic rise in publishing to his mysterious murder in 1945. A man of contradiction, Denoel published the works of anti-Semetics along side the works of Jews and Marxists. In fact, during the same month that he went on trial for Nazi collaboration, he won the most prestigious prize in French literature, The Goncourt, for his publication of a work by Elsa Triolet, a Russian Jew and an ardent supporter of the Nazi Resistance movement. How his company became an acquisition upon his death of his nemesis, Gaston Gallimard, involves a riveting tale of crime, murder, betrayal, and cover-up not often found even in fiction. Set against the colorful backdrop of Paris from the roaring '20s through the turbulent Nazi occupation years in the '30s to the post-war investigation, this is a riveting story of a fascinating man.



About the Author
A. Louise Staman has a Bachelors Degree in both French and History and a Masters Degree in both French and Humanities.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"On the night of 2 December 1945 a famous publisher and three lawyers met together on a deserted Paris street corner. That meeting went very well for the lawyers. But the publisher got a bullet in his back." "A Belgian, Robert Denoel came to Paris in 1926 with virtually no money or contacts. Within a few years he had founded his own publishing house, Les Editions Denoel, and by the time of World War II he was one of the most significant figures in the history of French publishing. But Denoel was never good at following the rules. Under the Nazi Occupation he published the Communist Louis Aragon and the Russian Jew Elsa Triolet (both working for the French Resistance), as well as the anti-Semitic Celine and the Fascist Lucien Rebatet. Caring more about great literature than political correctness, Denoel made fateful decisions that often put him at odds with the Nazis, the Vichy government, and even with liberated France. His death, and the subsequent acquisition of his company by his archrival, involves a web of crime, murder, betrayal, love, and cover-up not often found even in fiction." Using sensitive documents recently unsealed by the French government, A. Louise Staman exposes the events leading up to the infamous murder and illuminates a fascinating group of writers and publishers against the backdrop of France during the roaring twenties, turbulent thirties, the Nazi Occupation, and the Liberation.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

On the night of December 2, 1945, Robert Denoel, whose distinguished publishing house was facing charges of collaboration with the Germans, was shot to death on a Paris street. The murder was never solved by police, who initially conducted virtually no investigation. In her first book, Staman, with a master's degree in French and humanities, deftly probes the mystery of the publisher's death, her research leading her to a trove of revelatory documents sealed for decades by the French government. The events she recounts have the makings of a terrific literary detective drama, with walk-on parts by such colorful figures as Ana s Nin and featured roles for avant-garde literary figures like Louis-Ferdinand Celine (Denoel's star author) and Antonin Artaud. For the most part, Staman crafts the tale skillfully, vividly portraying characters like Deno l's socially ambitious mistress (also mistress to poet Paul Valery) and placing events in the larger context of Paris during the Nazi occupation and the purges of collaborators that followed the city's liberation. But there is a major flaw in Staman's narrative: she insists on inserting herself into the tale, believing her process of research and discovery to be as interesting as Deno l's story. Readers will quickly tire of her imagined reconstructions of various scenes ("Of course, I attended the premiere of Les Cens," a play by Artaud) and the insipid dialogue she recreates. Which is too bad, because for those interested in Paris and its publishing scene before and during WWII, Staman's tale has many rewards. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. Agent, Bob Solinger. (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Robert Denoel was born in Belgium in 1902 and came to Paris in 1926. In 1928, Denoel started his publishing company and launched several important authors in France, including Ray Bradbury, Jean Rhys, and Jean Genet. Denoel published anti-Semitic works as well as the works of Jews and Marxists. When he was on trial for Nazi collaboration, he won the prestigious Goncourt prize for a publication by Elsa Triolet, a Russian Jew. In December 1945, Denoel was on the way to the theater with a woman when his car got a flat tire. He was found shot and killed, but robbery did not seem to be the motive. First-time author Staman's report of the investigation reveals a tale of crime, betrayal, and coverup. Staman follows the lives of the major people in Denoel's life, including Gaston Gallimard, a publishing rival who acquired Denoel's company after his death; Jeanne Loviton, also known by her pseudonym Jean Volier, who was Denoel's friend and ran the company following the murder; and C cile Denoel, Robert's wife. The language of the narrative is that of a storyteller and should appeal to the general reader. In addition, the book is well researched with material from libraries and archives in France, Belgium, and the United States. Recommended for biography collections and those that have an interest in true crime and literary murder mysteries. Mary Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll., Wheeling Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews