The Granddaughter
From the author of the no.1 international bestseller The Reader
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
'Anyone who wants to understand contemporary Germany must read The Granddaughter now' Le Monde
'The great novel of German reunification' Le Figaro
'A masterpiece' Maurice Szafran
May, 1964. At a youth festival in East Berlin, an unlikely young couple fall in love. In the bright spring days, anything seems possible for them - it is only many years later, after her death, that Kaspar discovers the price his wife paid to get to him in West Berlin.
Shattered by grief, Kaspar sets off to uncover Birgit's secrets in the East. His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, and to a young girl who accepts him as her grandfather. Their worlds could not be more different - but he is determined to fight for her.
From the author of the no.1 international bestseller The Reader, The Granddaughter is a gripping novel that transports us from the divided Germany of the 1960s to contemporary Australia, asking what might be found when it seems like all is lost.
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Schlink (The Reader) delivers a touching narrative about an elderly man's discovery of his wife's secrets. After Kaspar Wettner's wife, Birgit, accidentally drowns in a bathtub, he finds a diary in which she reveals that before they married in the 1960s, she gave birth to another man's child and left the girl on a doorstep. With the help of the nurse who delivered the baby, he locates Birgit's daughter, Svenja, in the neo-Nazi community where she's living with her husband, Björn, and their 14-year-old daughter, Sigrun. At first, Björn bars Kaspar from seeing either Svenja or Sigrun, but he eventually agrees to let Sigrun visit Kaspar in Berlin in exchange for the inheritance Kaspar says Birgit provided for her. During Sigrun's visits, Kaspar tries to dispel her of neo-Nazi beliefs by giving her books and articles debunking them. As Kaspar and Sigrun grow closer and explore Berlin's art scene, they form a bond despite their political differences and Kaspar's fear that Björn could curtail the visits. Schlink offers an unflinching look at the neo-Nazi movement and the compromises people make out of love. It's a powerful story of loss and the desire to move forward.
