Lovers At The Chameleon Club, Paris 1932: A Novel

"This novel was inspired by a photograph of a lesbian couple taken at a Paris nightclub just before World War II. One of the women pictured is Violette Morris, a cross-dressing athlete and race car driver who became a Nazi spy and torturer. Morris is Lou Villars in Francine Prose’s novel, which tells Lou’s story from several perspectives, including the photographer’s. When her racing license is taken away because of how she dresses, Lou becomes easy prey for the manipulations of Adolf Hitler. It doesn’t end well for Lou, who winds up in the hands of the French Resistance. Prose’s book is a strange ride through the glittery, shallow world of Paris in the shadow of war. It’s also a cautionary tale that probes both the roots of evil and the nature of gender."