33 Place Brugmann: The international bestseller - Alice Austen

33 Place Brugmann: The international bestseller - Alice AustenAn unforgettable historical debut set in Second World War Brussels: exploring love, resistance and courage in all their forms 'I adored it It finds courage and love amidst the ruins, and I read with my heart in my mouth' Rachel Joyce 'Intimate and ambitious, lyrical and moving' Observer 'A beautiful and deeply engaging novel' Ann Patchett 'A richly textured, finely written, deeply thoughtful novel' William Boyd ___________________________________

An unforgettable historical debut set in Second World War Brussels: exploring love, resistance and courage in all their forms

'I adored it ... It finds courage and love amidst the ruins, and I read with my heart in my mouth' Rachel Joyce
'Intimate and ambitious, lyrical and moving' Observer
'A beautiful and deeply engaging novel' Ann Patchett
'A richly textured, finely written, deeply thoughtful novel' William Boyd

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Charlotte Sauvin has always seen the world differently. At home on 33 Place Brugmann, in the heart of Brussels, her father and her closest friends and neighbours - the Raphaëls from the fourth floor, and Masha from the fifth - have ensured her secret is safe. But when the Nazis invade Belgium, and Masha and the Raphaëls disappear, Charlotte must navigate her new world alone.

Over the border and across the sea, in occupied Paris and battered Blitz London, Masha and the Raphaels are reinventing themselves - as refugees, nurses, soldiers, heroes. Though scattered far and wide, they dream of only one place, one home: 33 Place Brugmann.

But back at Place Brugmann, Charlotte feels impending danger closing in. Who can she trust in this world - where everyone is watching, and everyone is harbouring their own secrets? As the months pass, and the shadow of war darkens, Charlotte and her neighbours must face what - and who - truly matters to them most - and summon the courage to fight for more than just survival.

With soaring imagination and profound intimacy, 33 Place Brugmann is a captivating and devastating celebration of the power of love, courage and art in times of great threat.

Bloomsbury Publishing 2025, hardcover

About the Author

Alice Austen is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and playwright. While studying law at Harvard, she also worked under Seamus Heaney in the university's creative writing department. Austen co-founded the Harvard Human Rights Journal and was the first American to receive a fellowship to the European Court of Human Rights. She has been awarded a Royal Court Residency, and her work has been honoured with an Independent Spirit Award and nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award and a Terrence McNally Award. Austen is working on a new film, originated by Alfonso Cuaron. 33 Place Brugmann is her debut novel.