THE MEASURE OF GOLD

A young American woman outwits Nazis through alchemy and espionage in Patten’s historical-fantasy debut.

Feeling rootless after the death of her father, 22-year-old American Penelope arrives in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1940 with a satchel of mystical items, including her father’s book and a unique stone necklace. Months before, her childhood friend Naomie Valentine, who gave her the necklace, wrote a letter urging her to come to the City of Light for an apprenticeship with her brother, a scientist and alchemist named Fulcanelli. Penelope draws the curiosity of fellow travelers and Nazi soldiers alike, who all wonder why she’d travel to war-torn Europe, alone, at a time when everyone else is fleeing. Fulcanelli turns out to be a part of the French Resistance; he boisterously welcomes Penelope into his giant laboratory, where he and others work in secret. They want Penelope to join the cause, which she does even as her mind races with questions: Where is Naomie, and why does Fulcanelli need the stone from her necklace? The dreamy yet dark tale unfolds quickly, intercut with flashbacks to Penelope’s old life in Sweetwater, Tennessee. In Paris, she works diligently in the lab, falls for an apprentice named Lucien, and tries to locate Naomie as war rages. After a botched mission leaves her with a recognizable scar, she flees London and learns to be a proper spy with the Special Operations Executive. Patten has clearly done thorough research on the real-life events surrounding her characters, but the tone is very much her own, with a touch of whimsy and modern-sounding dialogue. She ably sketches wartime Paris’ flocks of birds and towering monuments and cleverly weaves in fantasy elements, such as fountains that spout healing water and alchemic recipes that save people from certain death. Unfortunately, Penelope seems just a shade too perfect to be relatable; she’s not only a mathematician and alchemist, but also a great beauty and skilled dancer. Later on, some plot points don’t add up; it seems odd, for instance, that the British Resistance would train a native Tennessean to pose as a Frenchwoman. Still, Penelope and Lucien’s maturing romantic relationship has cross-genre appeal.

An engrossing supernatural spy story.