On the eve of the Nazi occupation, in the heart of Brussels, life for the residents of 33 Place Brugmann is about to change forever.

Charlotte Sauvin, an art student raised by her beloved architect father in apartment 4L, knows all the details of the building and its people: how light falls on wood floors and voices echo off the marble staircase, the distinct knock of her dear friend, Julian Raphaël, the son of the art dealer’s family across the hall. Then the Raphaëls disappear, leaving everything behind but their priceless art collection, which has simply vanished.

All else that’s familiar fractures when whispers of German occupation become reality, and the lives of the residents grow increasingly intertwined. Charlotte’s godmother Masha, a beautiful seamstress living upstairs, deepens her risky affair with a wartime compatriot of Colonel Warlemont in 3L—a man far more calculating than his neighbors believe. When a Nazi functionary with an interest in the Raphaëls moves into the building, knowing who can and cannot be trusted becomes a matter of life and death.

In the face of their perilous new reality, every member of this accidental community will discover they are not the person they believed themself to be. When confronted with a cruel choice—submit to the regime or risk their lives to save one another—each learns the truth about what, and who, matters to them the most.

A propulsive and exquisitely written tour de force, 33 Place Brugmann champions the restorative power of love, courage, and art in times of great threat.

Praise for 33 Place Brugmann:

A Winter/Spring 2025 Indies Introduce Pick

“An impressive display of Austen’s storytelling skill . . . unfurling an unusually colorful and intelligent, poignant and rich World War II novel, a special treat for the many fans of that genre . . . As the novel rotates among its plethora of first-person narrators, each with a distinctive voice, from the wry and cultured Sauvin to the horrible busybody Miss Hobert in 3R, the issue of how to live in terrible times is explored with insight, compassion and steeliness . . . Crème de la WWII novel.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 

“The world of 33 Place Brugmann is spacious and intricately connected, filled with both horror and brilliant light. Alice Austen uses her considerable gifts to remind us that the past and the present are more connected than we wish to believe, and that vigilance, loyalty and art hold the key to survival. This is a beautiful and deeply engaging novel.”—Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake

“Delicate and devastating. disruptive and beautiful, 33 Place Brugmann follows the intertwined lives of the residents of one building in Brussels during Nazi occupation – both within their individual apartments, and also as they try to make their way in the rapidly changing and diminishing outside world. Not only am I filled with admiration for the skill and ambition of this book, I also adored it. It’s a celebration of love, art and human decency when everything is reduced to the basics. It’s bursting with ideas and imagery, it finds courage and love amidst the ruins, and I read with my heart in my mouth.”—Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

“33 Place Brugmann is set in the turmoil of the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Austen’s device of using one apartment building, its memorable tenants, and their individual transformations is brilliant. A compelling and beautiful read.” —Abraham Verghese, New York Times bestselling author of The Covenant of Water

“In 33 Place Brugmann, a seemingly ordinary apartment building in the heart of Brussels becomes a microcosm of a world on the brink of war. Through multiple perspectives, Alice Austen weaves an extraordinary tapestry of lives intertwined by fate, fear, and resilience as Europe teeters on the edge of chaos in 1939. Offering a fresh perspective on a much-written-about era, this profoundly moving novel demonstrates the power of storytelling to illuminate the darkest corners of history.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

“33 Place Brugmann is an achingly suspenseful historical novel, sad at moments, but always intriguing, with a complex cast of vivid and involving characters. Wonderful reading.”—Scott Turow, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent 

“In 33 Place Brugmann, Alice Austen is at ease with storytelling; the thoughts on art, music, mathematics, and architecture are awesome; the characters are marvelous—how not to love Charlotte and her father . . . What an achievement for a first novel. And the author manages to do something very different in a very written about period.”—Anik Lapointe, Salamandra (Spain) 

“[A] remarkable novel—which has made me laugh, cry and think more than any other book I’ve read for a long time.”—Allegra Le Fanu, Bloomsbury (United Kingdom) 

“A very bright and enthralling novel. I really loved that the author managed to draw such complex characters and the multilayered intrigue with many compelling topics. I was amazed by how she describes the conflictual relationship between the Flemish and the Walloon intertwined with all the spy intrigue that keeps you nervous until the end.”—Bénédicte Lombardo, Editions du Seuil (France)

“[33 Place Brugmann] is so very special, I love the voices, the composition, the wonderful idea, just everything about it, what a treasure! I can’t stop reading!”—Madlen Reimer, S. Fischer Verlag (Germany) 

“I was transfixed from the onset and drawn into the lives of the protagonists, be it Charlotte, the Raphaels, Masha, all of them really; they all have their own voice, demons and histories to deal with and an uncertain future ahead of them . . . A beautiful novel.”—Renate Liesker, Ambo Anthos (Holland)