THE PARIS UNDERSTUDY

In Thiel’s historical novel, an understudy for a celebrated soprano of the French Opera gets her big break in 1930s Germany, with life-altering consequences.

It’s 1938, and the beautiful 32-year-old soprano Yvonne Chevallier has yet to make her debut on the stage of the prestigious Paris Opera. For the past two years, she has been the understudy of the current diva, Madeleine Moreau, a position Madeleine acquired for her—a crumb thrown to a potential competitor to keep her out of the spotlight. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler’s troops are on the march, and war with France on the horizon. Against her better judgment, Madeleine accepts an invitation from the late composer Richard Wagner’s daughter to sing in her father’s Tristan und Isoldein the small Bavarian town of Bayreuth. However, after six weeks of rehearsal, Madeleine is wracked with guilt about being in Nazi Germany. The day before the premiere, which Hitler is slated to attend, she heads back to Paris. Yvonne, to her own great surprise, is called upon to step into the starring role, and she debuts to a standing ovation. At the afterparty, Hitler calls her an “enchantress,” and a photographer snaps a photo of her with the dictator. The rave reviews make their way to Paris, as does the photo, which ends Yvonne’s employment at the Paris Opera. Theile’s dramatic narrative about two opera singers facing choices of conscience effectively peeks behind the curtain of a professional world of ego-driven backstabbing and betrayal. More gripping and disturbing, however, is the complex story of Paris under siege, of Yvonne and Madeleine’s changing relationship, and of Yvonne’s struggle to balance her loyalty to France with her passion for the stage. Increasingly ensnared by her own ambition, Yvonne emerges as an engaging and frustrating main character.

A complicated morality tale with plenty of operatic intrigue and wartime history.