RaveLambda LiteraryThe amount of story in this novel is remarkable, to say nothing of its depth. The text uses many tools to pack so much into three hundred pages ... Also, the narrative cuts between past, present, and future seamlessly, and it alternates between summary and scene strategically ... De Robertis does wonders with point of view ... This layering warms up the narrative. The repetition—or is it recursion?—makes us feel that we earned the story. The effect is intimacy and satisfaction ... De Robertis rends time to honor pain. She heals.
Julie Orringer
MixedLambda LiteraryThe parallels to our current moment are subtle yet impactful. The novel is punctuated with echoes and counterpoints to a dirge of American practices ... However, to the veracity of this reflection, can a text indict the very thing that it reveres? The conceit of saving \'the intellectual treasure of Europe\' makes this book a tribute to Western civilization. At the same time, the West also yielded and condoned Nazism, the very apparatus that threatened \'civilization.\' Rather than reckon with white supremacy, the text opts for Western individualism ... The text wants us to believe in the sufficiency of individual good will. However, the plot values white art and white lives exclusively, even at the expense of the sole character of color. Given the novel’s timeliness and its argument for solidarity, I worry that it might function as a plea to white readers: See, white people were refugees once too ... However, what’s needed is a challenge ... The Flight Portfolio...veers toward homonationalism. As much as I appreciate this novel—admire its intricate yet effortless plotting, treasure how it captures longing and intimacy—I wonder which among us it would save.
