Customer Reviews

The Mercy Room: A Novel

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The unnamed teacher/narrator of German lives in a town in occupied France during World War II. The teacher (whose gender is unknown) cares only for literature, and marries, perhaps because it is expected. It is certainly not to partake in a sexual relationship as the marriage isn't consummated in eight years.

The teacher is recruited by the Nazis to translate documents for them. Each time the teacher goes to the commandant's office to wait for the assignment, the teacher watches as prisoners are led to detention cells before deportation. The teacher recognized some of the prisoners as former neighbors.

The teacher exists primarily through literature. Other than personal difficulties, the war doesn't seem to impact the teacher. Certainly it hasn't required involvement, heroic or otherwise.

Then one day the teacher recognizes a Jewish soldier among the prisoners and sneaks the soldier (Herman) out of the headquarters. The teacher brings Herman home and hides him in the cellar of the teacher's family home where a torrid affair takes place under the "noses" of the family and an SS man who was having an affair with the teacher's sister.

The Mercy Room is stunning, yet disturbing on many levels. The story is unique and interesting but is filled with such a feeling of hopelessness and sadness. The lovers are doomed from the beginning and the family is shattered by the war and by a family member's collaboration with the Nazis. And the fact that the reader doesn't know the gender of the narrator conjures up different scenarios that change, depending upon the sex assigned by the reader to the narrator at that moment.

The Mercy Room is a relatively short but powerful novel and its length serves it well. A longer story might unravel, as it would be difficult to keep the narrator's gender a secret indefinitely.

Armchair Interviews says: If you enjoy intrigue, drama and a well-written story, The Mercy Room would be an enjoyable read.

Gilles Rozier (and his extraordinarily fine translator Anthea Bell) presents one of the more strangely involving stories of the French Occupation and Resistance during World War II. This brief (147 pages) novel is not only exquisitely written, it is terse, rich in mysteries and techniques, and raises more questions than it answers. Some may dismiss Rozier's novel as a gimmick: the narrator is never identified with a name or a gender and that identification is left completely up to the reader. Are we reading a story about an icy female German teacher who seduces/befriends a Jewish soldier into her protective cellar hideaway, or are we following a closeted gay man whose frustrations with life in the clime of the country during war encourage him to seduce/befriend a sensuous potential lover into the sanctity of his cellar with the hopes of eventually savoring the sexual relationship which has been denied him? The choice is the reader's option. For this reader the second alternative makes the story far more powerful on many levels and thus the male/male relationship is the road of interpretation elected.

In a small French town during the Occupation lives a family: the father has been extricated by the Nazis, the mother tends to the home, the sister Anne lusts upstairs taking a SS officer Volker as her constant daily lover, the sister Isabelle remains out of the picture, and the other 'child' is our narrator. He (my choice) is a brilliant scholar whose chief loves in life are books, German literature and language (especially the works of Nazi forbidden Thomas Mann and Heinrich Heine). As a teacher in the local school his aptitudes are recognized and he is selected to translate sensitive documents for the Nazis. He has had one 'friend', one Hans Joachim, a handsome German who disappears when the Resistance and the Occupation clash. He agrees to marry one Jude, consenting to fulfill a family duty but completely denying any physical or emotional contact with her. His 'work' is delivered for translation by a stunningly handsome German officer Herman who hums Chopin while our narrator works, creating a strong sense of sexual tension and desire.

When our narrator is moved to the halls of the Nazis to await pickup and delivery of the desired documents he watches the towns Jews march past him, surely on their way to railroad cars, camps, and extermination. When Herman appears in the line with these condemned Jews our narrator arranges to have him escape to the home of the narrator where he is sequestered in the cellar in a library full of books. Herman speaks and reads Yiddish, loves Heine as much as our narrator, and after our narrator's successfully engineered capture of Herman's private Heine book from his previous apartment, Herman at last shows the sensual, physical attraction to our narrator and they begin a blissful affair, with sexual encounters partially supplanting their mutual love for Heine. Herman teaches our narrator Yiddish in exchange for what becomes an over two-year concealment as a Jew in hiding from the Nazis - accepting food, shelter and reading forbidden books and performing forbidden sexual acts in exchange.

As the war pulses on, Jude commits suicide out of longing for a normal marriage bed, our narrator eventually murders the SS Volker (whose sexual couplings with Anne disgust the family who happens to be protected by the officer's daily visits), dispenses with his body in the same cellar, a fact that creates a schism between the two lovers. When the Liberation finally arrives our narrator helps Herman to escape in the SS uniform disrobed from Volker, but the long awaited escape is thwarted by Herman's being killed by the Resistance. And our narrator ages, remembering the aspects of the French Occupation that reveal just how delicate was the quality of mercy in the time of war.

Rozier's writing is pungent, passionate when the mood calls for it, and coolly isolated when the events of the life in France during the war are described. It is a genuinely involving story and whether the reader elects to see the narrator as male or female makes no difference in the power of the events that occur. This is one of those books that, once opened, glues the reader to the pages in a one evening's read. It is startlingly effective. Grady Harp, November 06

Perhaps the cover attracted me with a man and woman hugging like front & back covers of a book, connected by the binding giving us the title "The Mercy Room." The book tells us that this is Gilles Rozier's third book, yet it fails to list his previous two books. Perhaps they have yet to be translated. Anthea Bell's translation reads well in English. I found it fascinating that the original Yiddish or German poetry was often found in the text, causing me to flip to the back of the book and read the English translation in context.

This is an unusual story. It is most unusual because of the emotional temperament of the narrator and main character. Rozier plays a little head game with the readers by leaving the gender of the narrator open-ended. We know the main character marries Jude; but Jude's gender is never tipped by use of male or female pronouns. I spent a few pages uncertain of the gender, but then quickly decided that the narrator is female and Jude was her husband. My thinking is that a guy might well kill himself for lack of sexual contact, whereas a woman might be more ambivalent. I also looked at the jacket photograph as being male on the left and female on the right; so I figured my interpretation was consistent with the publisher.

However, our narrator is an ice queen. Her passions run to the German language and literature. There is not much else that turns her on. She is a dedicated Frenchwoman, being revolted by the Nazi SS Volker who has sex with her sister. The other family characters are almost all nondescript. The mother is mostly silent and self-contained. The sister Anne is mostly viewed by the narrator as she looks up at the shaking chandelier as Volker frolics. The other sister Isabelle and their kids are almost entirely removed from the story; we never encounter them as personalities, only as family presences. So what comes across is severe isolation.

The little "Mercy Room" in the cellar where the narrator hides banned literature and reads secretly speaks of isolation. The narrator's connection to her job even speaks of her isolation from her students, not getting involved with them on a human level, just teaching so that she can buy more books and read. Her marriage to Jude is never consummated. She speaks almost with naivete since her detachment is so complete. In eight years of marriage, she doesn't see her husband without his clothes on, and prefers it that way.

What is good about this novel is its stealth language. It sneaks up on you. We get lulled by the beautiful description and poetry and then walloped by some major piece of action that comes without buildup or analysis. The killing of Volker happens. Herman's rescue occurs quickly as does his demise. The only bit of personal life on which Rozier dwells is the lovemaking. This thunders. We feel the exquisite discovery. Yet, this is done in isolation as well, in the Mercy Room where sounds cannot let on about Herman's presence and where Herman gives few details of his life before rescue or what will occur after liberation.

Rozier's book is quiet & literary. Its brevity aids the story, just long enough to hold our attention and say goodbye at the right moment. It is a study in isolation, both emotional & physical. It has a somber beauty and is worth the quick reading time. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a complex, literary work, with intensity and depth, this will certainly suit you. It's narrated by a person of undetermined gender who is a conservative teacher in a French town. As WW II approaches, the narrator gets summoned to serve as a translator for the Nazis, and, in a rare bold move, decides to sneak a young Jewish soldier into the basement of his/her home.

The narrator was married but "Jude" (male or female, we're not supposed to know) has committed suicide. As the stowaway, Herman, lives hidden in the basement, the narrator shares deep passion with him and enjoys tender moments discussing literature, Yiddish, and other cultural aspects.

The story takes a surprising and dark twist as the narrator gets tired of a Nazi soldier who comes to visit and have sex with Anne, the narrator's more-than-willing sister.

While the book is well-written, the environment carefully well-colored, eventually the desire to know the protagonist's gender gets in the way. It is supposed to be that way to show how such an intense relationship is genderless, but the attempt doesn't quite work.

Keep in mind that this book was originally written in French, and translated. Perhaps it was written more for the eclectic European reader rather than more straightforward American tastes. It takes substantial effort to get immersed in it.

If you're looking for a "gay novel," this isn't it. Nor is it really a historical novel. I would describe it more as a book for those who enjoy experimental literature or who crave to read anything set during WWII.

This is a love story. It's a story of heroism in a time of war. W.W.II. It takes place in occupied France. A teacher of German hides a Jewish soldier who has escaped from his Nazi captors. If he is found, not only the person hiding him; but, also that person's entire family will be killed or sent to the concentration camps.
Thus, the teacher's family is told nothing. The Jewish soldier is kept a secret from everyone.
The person hiding him is never identified by gender or by name. The protector & the protected fall in love. Is this a gay love story? A lesbian love story? A straight love story? The writer alludes to the fact that it doesn't matter. It is about love in a time of war & danger. Names are not even that important.
The Jewish soldier's language is Yiddish. The French protector loves German. Together, they read German poets in Yiddish & Jewish poets in Yiddish & German. At first this is an intellectual camaraderie in a time of hell. Soon, their bodies connect, as well.
It's a very slim volume. There is no extraneous baggage. None is needed. The two lovers make plans to meet after the war. Sadly, those plans are thwarted in a kind of O'Henryesque ending. Oh yes, during this slim volume the protector has been married for a time. The reader is not given a hint to their genders, as the spouse is given a unisex name.

The narrator of this story is a young woman who teaches German at a high school during World War II in occupied France. She watches with dropped jaw as German soldiers march through her city and her Jewish neighbors are rooted out and taken away.

Even though he's French, her father is eventually sent to far away Stalag. Her mother waits at home saying nothing about the odd things that take place there. Anne, the narrator's widowed sister, shares her bed with Volker an SS man who makes no secret of his visits.

When German soldiers visit her classroom unexpectedly, the narrator learns that she must translate documents for them. She tries not to think about her role in the war as the Jews file past her inside German headquarters. It's difficult for her to sit still knowing that many of them will never exit the building through the front door. She averts her eyes.

The narrator ends up marrying Jude, a man she tutors in German. Jude makes no demands on her during their eight years together and she remains disinterested in him.

She ignores even her in-laws attempt to get her to consummate the marriage. She is more interested in literature than men until she sees a handsome Jewish courier she encountered while previously translating documents for the French.

As he waits with a group of prisoners, she suddenly rises and sneaks him out of the building and into a secret library in her parents' cellar. Herman, the Jewish man she saves becomes dependent on her for all of his needs. Once Jude is gone things become so much more complicated in the small space.

The Mercy Room is a short book that gives insight into what the German occupation of France meant to both French and Jewish inhabitants. As lines are drawn and rules are enforced, desperation takes the place of freedom. Life becomes more precious as love and sex and death are woven together into a tight knot.

This story was translated from French into English for its publication in the United States. Its original title was Love Without Resistance or Un Amour Sans Resistance.