''My French Whore'' is a 2007 comedic

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

novel written by the American actor, director, screenwriter and author,

Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...

Plot summary

Set towards the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1918, it tells the story of a shy young railway employee and amateur actor from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

named Paul Peachy. Having realized that his wife no longer loves him, Paul enlists as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and boards a ship for the trenches of France. Peachy finds temporary solace in friendship amid horrors of war, but is soon captured by the enemy

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

. His only chance of survival is to impersonate one of the enemy's most famous spies (as a child of immigrants, he is a fluent German speaker). As the urbane and accomplished spy Harry Stroller, Peachy is feted as a hero by the German top brass and gains access to a previously unimagined world of sumptuous living. But his new role also reveals inner reserves of courage and ingenuity he never knew he possessed, as the mounting suspicions of his German hosts force Peachy into ever more outrageous deceptions. In this atmosphere of smoke and mirrors, Paul Peachy falls in love with Annie, a beautiful French

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

who seems to see through his artful disguise.

Review and criticism

''My French Whore'' is a romantic comedy of errors and deceptions. A reviewer stated that the "writing /nowiki>is/nowiki> sparse but perfect, and the dialogue /nowiki>is/nowiki> wonderful." In presenting his book, Gene Wilder himself wrote on a blog: ''My French Whore is my memo to the masses who cried out Give us more of the same! Very well, liebchens. You would like to re-live the black comedy of The Producers? I give you the madcap tale of an American soldier who impersonates a German spy, with hilarious but sombre results. Picture much hollering, in German! SCHNELL und ACHTUNG!'' Other reviewers have written that Wilder's character development was scarce and irregular, whereas still others stated that Wilder's novel was a touching debut novel "a simple, straight-faced love story about a brave coward and a scarlet," where the language was humorous, with characters who had depth and charm. Finally, a writer for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that "Wilder’s delightful fiction debut (is) a novel so witty, dramatic and romantic that the reader is left with an indelible mental movie." Overall, Wilder's first novel had a fair reception and good sales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:My French Whore 2007 American novels 2007 debut novels American comedy novels American romance novels American spy novels Fiction about the United States Army Fiction set in 1918 Novels set during World War I St. Martin's Press books Works by Gene Wilder