Tuesday, April 1, 7 PM: Author Event: Alice Austen, Eugene Native, Debut Novel "33 Place Brugmann," Meet and Greet, Reading , Book Talk, Signing

Books available for purchase and signing at the Event, or click this link to purchase a copy, with free shipping in the U.S through our web store.

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On the eve of the occupation, in the heart of Brussels, life for the residents of eight apartments at 33 Place Brugmann is about to change forever. 

Art student Charlotte Sauvin, daughter of a prominent architect in apartment 4L, knows all the details of the building and its people: how light falls and voices echo, the distinct knock of her dearest friend, Julian Raphaël, the eldest son of an art collector’s family across the hall in 4R. But all that’s familiar for Charlotte and the other residents of 33 begins to fracture as whispers of Nazi occupation become reality. The Raphaëls disappear—becoming refugees, nurses, soldiers, reluctant heroes. Masha, the seamstress on the 5th floor, deepens a dangerous affair with a wartime compatriot of Colonel Warlemont in 3R, a man far less feckless than he’d have his neighbors believe. And in the face of a perilous new reality, every member of this accidental community will discover they are not the person they believed themselves to be. When confronted with a cruel choice—submit to the regime or risk their lives to resist—each will discover the truth about what, and who, matters to them the most. 

33 PLACE BRUGMANN is a deeply empathetic and disarmingly hopeful tour-de-force about love, courage, and the role of art in a time of threat.

Author Alice Austen lived in the real 33 Place Brugmann in Brussels and drew inspiration from her time there and the fellow residents she met. Two elderly residents came to her aid when they could hear through the thin walls that she had a colicky baby.  They shared stores of residents who lived there before, during, and after the war.

Praise for 33 PLACE BRUGMANN:

“The world of 33 Place Brugmann is spacious and intricately connected, filled with both horror and brilliant light. Alice Austen uses her considerable gifts to remind us that the past and the present are more connected than we wish to believe, and that vigilance, loyalty and art hold the key to survival.  This is a beautiful and deeply engaging novel.”

—Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake

“An impressive display of Austen’s storytelling skill . . . unfurling an unusually colorful and intelligent, poignant and rich World War II novel, a special treat for the many fans of that genre . . . As the novel rotates among its plethora of first-person narrators, each with a distinctive voice, from the wry and cultured Sauvin to the horrible busybody Miss Hobert in 3R, the issue of how to live in terrible times is explored with insight, compassion and steeliness . . . Crème de la WWII novel.”

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 

“Kaleidoscopic . . . Both epic in scope and intimate.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Through an arresting symphony of the residents’ voices, debut novelist Austen carves a special place in the much-surveyed landscape of Holocaust fiction, especially in her homage to the importance of art. Equally remarkable is her ability to bestow attention on each of the many characters while still driving the plot forward…a powerfully well-written novel.” —Booklist (starred review) 

“33 Place Brugmann is set in the turmoil of the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Austen’s device of using one apartment building, its memorable tenants, and their individual transformations is brilliant. A compelling and beautiful read.”

 —Abraham Verghese, New York Times bestselling author of The Covenant of Water

“In 33 Place Brugmann, a seemingly ordinary apartment building in the heart of Brussels becomes a microcosm of a world on the brink of war. Through multiple perspectives, Alice Austen weaves an extraordinary tapestry of lives intertwined by fate, fear, and resilience as Europe teeters on the edge of chaos in 1939. Offering a fresh perspective on a much-written-about era, this profoundly moving novel demonstrates the power of storytelling to illuminate the darkest corners of history.”

—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

“A richly textured, finely written, deeply thoughtful novel that resonates in the mind. A hugely impressive debut.”—William Boyd, author of Gabriel’s Moon

“33 Place Brugmann is an achingly suspenseful historical novel, sad at moments, but always intriguing, with a complex cast of vivid and involving characters. Wonderful reading.”

—Scott Turow, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent

“In 33 Place Brugmann, Alice Austen conjures war-tested, occupied Brussels with uncanny potency and precision. This is historical fiction at its immersive, absorbing best. A riveting and original debut from a writer to watch.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

“33 Place Brugmann is a riveting portrait of community during a time when the very notion of community was under siege. A master of time and place, Austen has a historian’s grasp of detail and a storyteller’s command of suspense. This is a beautiful and important novel.”

—Jessica Shattuck, author of Last House and The Women in the Castle

“Delicate and devastating. disruptive and beautiful, 33 Place Brugmann follows the intertwined lives of the residents of one building in Brussels during Nazi occupation – both within their individual apartments, and also as they try to make their way in the rapidly changing and diminishing outside world. Not only am I filled with admiration for the skill and ambition of this book, I also adored it. It’s a celebration of love, art and human decency when everything is reduced to the basics. It’s bursting with ideas and imagery, it finds courage and love amidst the ruins, and I read with my heart in my mouth.”

—Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

“A work of art—stylish, charming and magnetic. There is a crisp immediacy in the writing so that the eve of a world war is now, here, close and not in the sepia-colored past.”

—Leila Aboulela, author of River Spirit

About Alice Austen:

A native of Eugene, Oregon, Alice earned an Honors BA degree in English and French Literature from the University of Oregon. She received a JD degree from Harvard University, where she additionally completed the university’s Creative Writing Graduate Program. She is the first American awarded a fellowship to the European Court of Human Rights. While attending Harvard, Alice studied under Irish writer and Nobel Prize recipient Seamus Heaney.

Alice received a 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award nomination (Best New Work) for her play, WATER; in 2013, Chicago Magazine named her the “‘Next Big Thing’–Playwright.” She has received additional residencies within Chicago at Goodman Theatre and Chicago Dramatists, as well as at the Royal Court in London, and the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, N.Y.