#RivetingReviews: Dymphna Flynn reviews THE BARMAN OF THE RITZ by Philippe Collin, translated by Frank Wynne
Radio producer Philippe Collin has had a huge cultural impact in France on two counts: firstly as the creator of the hit podcast Facing History, which has had forty million downloads; and secondly with his bestselling first novel, The Barman of the Ritz, based on a true story and just translated into English by Frank Wynne – out in the UK in August 2026.
It’s a terrifying concept: as the Nazis march on Paris in 1940, what will barman Frank Meier do? He’s worked hard to become a celebrity mixologist, running the Petit Bar (which later became the Hemingway Bar) at the Ritz hotel for customers like Coco Chanel, Fitzgerald, and of course, Hemingway.
Collin jumps backwards in Meier’s story: Austrian by birth he abandoned his family aged just fifteen to emigrate to New York, where he learned his trade. Crucially, he returned to Europe to fight alongside the French during the First World War. This is where Collin excels, wearing his historical prowess lightly. For Meier served under Marshal Pétain, a hero to those soldiers who suffered for him in the trenches. As the Germans advance on Paris in 1940, Meier has every faith in Pétain. It’s often shocking to remember that the Second World War started just twenty-one years after the end of the first.
As the Nazi high command moves into the Ritz, Meier is waiting behind his bar, ready to make them a cocktail. Because the owners, César and Marie-Louise Ritz, are Swiss, and therefore neutral, the hotel enjoys a special status. So, despite the harsh realities of the Occupation outside the hotel’s door, where Parisians are starving, Meier and his team source the best wines, champagnes and food for the Germans, such as Göring, who moves into the Imperial Suite, eager for a taste of French refinement. In this suffocating atmosphere Meier is hiding a secret he can tell no one, not even his friend and assistant, Georges, who was his comrade-in-arms in the previous war – the secret that Meier himself is Jewish.
As the months roll on it becomes clear to Meier how frightening his situation is. Fluent in English, French and German, he watches and mixes drinks silently from behind the bar, as the motley crew converges. The novel’s strength is its portrayal of Meier’s bravery in this bizarre scenario: as Nazis discuss the Final Solution, Meier helps Jews forge papers, while in his bar, collaborators think the war is over and that this is the new France; shady art dealers take advantage of Parisian Jews’ need for financial resources; opportunist hotel residents like Chanel sip a cocktail; all while resistance fighters hide in the hotel workers’ rooms upstairs.
However, Collin does show his inexperience as a novelist as he imagines Meier’s thought processes. The italicised musings and his diary entries are too thin, to the point of whimsy, making the reader unsure of Meier’s emotions and personality. The prime example of this is his unrequited love for Blanche, American wife of the hotel manager, who also hides her Jewishness.
Five stars, therefore, for the story, atmosphere and historical detail, but only three for the writing. That said, the novel would make a terrific film – the characters, the costumes, the tension, setting, and the redemption and relief as the Allies finally descend on the Petit Bar.
Reviewed by Dymphna Flynn
THE BARMAN OF THE RITZ
Written by Philippe Collin
Translated from the French by Frank Wynne
Published by Doubleday (2026)
June 2026 #RivetingReviews titles are available to buy from bookshop.org.
Dymphna Flynn is development producer at Pier Productions and was a judge on the Costa Book Awards 2021. She reviews new fiction on Instagram @dymphnaflynn. Dymphna was a producer at BBC Arts for over twenty years.
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