ABSTRACT
As the French thirst for English-language novels continued to grow and the majority of American publishers remained generally ignorant about the situation overseas, French agents definitely had a new and important part to play. In the last two chaotic and exciting years of the war, the Michel Hoffman agency played its card and joined in the reconstruction of French publishing by way of importing US fiction and literature. Between 1944 and 1946, Hoffman gradually earned the trust of his French and transatlantic partners by performing diplomatic missions of sorts. This chapter focuses on his ability to gather information and his competence as matchmaker, as American publishing was getting ready to swoop down on the French rights market. It discusses a case that highlights some of the concessions publishers and authors, as well as agents, were willing to make in the name of higher moral ideals during the Second World War.
