REVIEW: The Travels of Daniel Ascher

A novel by Déborah Lévy-Bertherat, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter

Don’t let the size of this book fool you—it’s petite but rich in historical scope, emotional depth, and intricately woven story lines. In The Travels of Daniel Ascher, Hélène is a student at the Institute of Archaeology in Paris, occupying a room in her frequently traveling great-uncle’s home. Her great-uncle Daniel, a much-beloved children’s book author, is the subject of worship and curiosity among Hélène’s classmates, who grew up reading his popular series of adventure books. During Hélène’s stay in Paris, she sets out to learn more about her famous and mysterious uncle.  She discovers that Daniel and, by extension, Hélène’s family have deep, dusty secrets dating to Nazi-occupied France. Reaching from the 1940s to 2012, and weaving this family mystery with Hélène’s own journey into adulthood, Lévy-Bertherat creates a story as multi-layered as a Napoleon pastry. It’s a story about family and love, and the way these can be ripped apart and sometimes patched back together—though never seamlessly. In sum, The Travels of Daniel Ascher is a small, but exquisite gem, a richly layered pastry, a stay-up-all-night-to-finish-but-don’t-regret-it type of a novel.

— Sarah Burriss, Main Library, Charleston, S.C.

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