The acknowledgements that follow the last page read: “For the simplicity of language I’ve achieved, I thank my two mentors: Ernest Hemingway and Jean Renoir.” A more perfect statement has yet to be uttered. Gene Wilder’s first novel, My French Whore: A Love Story, is simple in the extreme and touching. I loved every word.

Paul Peachy’s life wasn’t a bowl of cherries when the Americans decided to enter World War I. By day he conducted trains on the Chicago-Milwaukee route and by night he acted in amateur community theater. Somewhere in there he was also an unhappy husband to an equally unhappy wife.

One day upon finishing his run, he makes the snap decision to join the army and soon after is deployed to France. As Private Peachy, his ability to speak fluent German lands him an interview with a notorious captured German spy, Colonel Harry Stroller. Through a series of horrible, and even some funny, events he is now in the German camps, acting as Harry Stroller and being treated as nobility. He soon meets Annie, a French whore known to the German army. They fall in love.

But Paul Peachy isn’t Harry Stroller and it is inevitable that he will be unable to play out this part for long. It’s a shame that this is the happiest time of his life. He has a good friend in a German officer and the love of his life. He can’t ask for anything more.

At 178 pages, this book took me one afternoon to finish. As I read it I knew it was good. But like a punch to the gut, it wasn’t until I closed the cover after reading the final pages that I knew that this was something more than good. We don’t find out too much about the star characters, their backgrounds or the immense war that is going on. But this snippet of Paul Peachy’s life will take the breath out of you.

I always knew Gene Wilder was a man of many talents. His comedic genius is evident in a subtle way, which compliments the books small size. Over the top moments would have dragged down poignant moments.

If the title hasn’t caught your attention and made you want to read My French Whore, I hope my review will. Go into it with no expectations and enjoy the ride, no matter how short it is. I thank Gene Wilder for giving me Paul Peachy’s story. I also thank him for making me not take my truly happy moments for granted. Bravo!