On a warm September afternoon, eight women gathered at Lynn Leissler’s home to discuss Lizette’s List by Susan Vreeland. The author weaves a tale of art, love, and war, set in Provence, France during WWII. Instead of overpowering, the war provides a menacing backdrop for this richly themed story. Lizette is barely in her twenties when she and her new husband, André, leave Paris to care for his sick grandfather in Roussillon. Gran-père Pascal owns seven paintings by Pissarro, Cézanne, and Picasso, and Lizette later meets Marc and Bella Chagall. Vreeland weaves her themes throughout the story: light in descriptions of scenery, a home’s interior, art; color through art and the vivid, nearby ocher mines; lists that include her list of Hungers and Vows; love and loss when her beloved André dies, and the possibility of new love. Circumstances force Lizette to remain in Roussillon, where she must grow up and provide for herself. A rich tale, intriguing and well told. Lynn served food in line with the novel and its setting—French apple cake, chèvre on rosemary/olive oil crackers with apricot jam, olives and grapes and crème café. Another book club member brought samples of ocher paint, books about the depicted artists, and some of her own work.
