The Two Hotel Francforts

It is the summer of 1940, and Lisbon, Portugal, is the only neutral port left in Europe-a city filled with spies, crowned heads, and refugees of every nationality, tipping back absinthe to while away the time until their escape. Awaiting safe passage to New York on the SS Manhattan, two couples meet: Pete and Julia Winters, expatriate Americans fleeing their sedate life in Paris; and Edward and Iris Freleng, sophisticated, independently wealthy, bohemian, and beset by the social and sexual anxieties of their class. As Portugal's neutrality, and the world's future, hang in the balance, the hidden threads in the lives of these four characters-Julia's status as a Jew, Pete and Edward's improbable affair, Iris's increasingly desperate efforts to save her tenuous marriage-begin to come loose.

Gorgeously written, sexually and politically charged, David Leavitt's long-awaited new novel is an extraordinary work.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Published: 06/03/2014
ISBN: 9781596910430
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 8.48h x 5.52w x 0.73d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 08/10/2014 pg. 28