Author’s Note - The Barman of the Ritz

Paris was occupied by German troops from June 14, 1940, to August 25, 1944: 1,533 nights. One thousand five hundred and thirty-three nights during which the Ritz was transformed from a luxury hotel into a stomping ground for the Nazi elite. There are a thousand and one ways to recount this story; The Barman of the Ritz is a novel based on actual facts and actual people. It is an account of those dark years in France. But there are gray areas in the life of Frank Meier that—as René Girard puts it—intersect fictional “truth” and romantic “lies.” The Frank Meier in this novel is both real and fictitious. The character of Luciano is fictitious, just as that of Fersen is inspired by various people in Meier’s entourage during those years. The excerpts from Meier’s diary are my own invention, conceived as a way to shed light on this extraordinary life.

In this attempt to recreate life in Paris under the Occupation, the aim is less to be “true” at all times than it is to capture the conflicting emotions that may have preoccupied Frank Meier.

In his position, what would you have done?