The Vienna Writers Circle

by J C Maetis

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Vienna Writers Circle is a fictionalized account of Freud's circle of intellectual acquaintances during the early war years, starting in 1938 in Vienna. Released 14th Feb 2023 by HarperCollins on their MIRA imprint, it's 416 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out 1st quarter 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a beautifully written, often lyrical book which nevertheless is frank and unflinching. That made it difficult to read in some places. Given the subject matter, it would be difficult for it -not- to be shocking and sad, and it is. The author, J.C. Maetis, has a deft touch with characterization and a real eye for detail in setting descriptions. 

The book is written pseudonymously, presumably because the author's well known oeuvre as a writer of thrillers, and this is in a very different vein. It's fiction, and the story is written around a framework of actual historical events and characters so skillfully that it's not at all clear where real history shades over into fiction.

Four stars. This would make a good library book for acquisition. Sensitive readers should be aware that it's quite dark in places (well, obviously). For fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale, and Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See, although not at all derivative, this one will have a lot of appeal. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.