Number 12 Rue Sainte-Catherine and Other Stories

Roberta Hartling Gates takes on difficult subject matter with a deft, sure hand in NUMBER 12 RUE SAINTE-CATHERINE AND OTHER STORIES, centered around Klaus Barbie, the Nazi known as “The Butcher of Lyon” to show how he grew from an abused boy into one of the evils of the regime, and then descended into a hunted old man. The stories do not shy away from brutality, yet use spare, carefully chosen details with powerful impact. Gates does the near-impossible, making Barbie an understandable, complex human being without trying to make excuses for the character or make him likeable. The use of language and imagery is both stark and poignant, and relevant today. The characters come alive, and the choice to show many facets of these characters through slow reveals over the course of the stories give the book a strong arc. NUMBER 12 RUE SAINTE-CATHERINE is not an easy book of historical fiction, but it is a powerful and worthwhile one.