The Paris Understudy: Are Two Female Protagonists Better Than One?

 It certainly looks like I'm going to have read at least three books in June 2024. I haven't read that many since March.   That gives me hope that my book totals may be heading upward for the rest of the year. 

I've been searching through my e-mail to try to find out who sent me this book.  I haven't been able to find it in any e-mail folder.  So I can't credit the possible publicist who sent me the book that I am reviewing here. Whoever you are, you have my gratitude. 

I can tell you that the author is Aurelie Thiele and that her website can be found at http://aureliethiele.com  There is more than one individual with the name of Aurelie Thiele.  I decided that she must be the Aurelie Thiele on the Goodreads Page devoted to Thiele.                                         

                                                          

This is a tale of two fictional French opera singers. Madeleine refused to sing in Nazi Germany.  The more influential Madeleine had made her rival Yvonne, her understudy.  So Yvonne feared that she would get no work if she didn't sing in Madeleine's place. This was a serious error in judgement, but she couldn't see the implications for the future of her career.  Even worse, she didn't perceive that the beliefs of the Nazis were unconscionably evil. Singing was apparently all she knew and cared about.  So her professional debut was in Nazi Germany, and it was a triumph.  She sang Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde to great acclaim. Hitler was present at the performance, and called Yvonne "an enchantress".

In the Author's Note, Thiele reveals that Yvonne was based on the real life opera singer, Germaine Lubin, whose Wikipedia page can be found at the hyperlink.  If you haven't read The Paris Understudy, I would advise you not to read that Wikipedia page because it's virtually identical to the plot of Thiele's novel. 

I did like The Paris Understudy for the historical context even though I didn't enjoy reading about the rivalry between the protagonists.  I prefer reading about women who are friends rather than competitive rivals.