The Book
This debut novel, nominated for the Booker Prize in 2001 and winner of a Betty Trask Award, explores the legacy of Nazi guilt and the modern German psyche. It is told from the perspective of three ordinary Germans between the 1920s and 1990s.
The stories comprise those of Helmut - a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s; Lore - a 12-year old girl guiding her family across Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and Micha - a young teacher obsessed by her grandfathers role in the war and struggling with the past.
Reviewers have praised it as a novel that provokes discussion about how we ourselves would respond to atrocious events and their legacy. It has been judged as exploring emotional and psychological issues with rare insight and humanity.
The Author
Rachel Seiffert was born in 1971 to a German mother and Australian father and grew up mostly in Glasgow and Oxford. She has lived in Berlin. She has also worked in film and community education and currently writes full-time for a living. In 2003, Seiffert was named by Granta magazine as one of 'Best of British Young Novelists'. Since publishing the book, Seiffert has gone on to publish a book of short stories, 'Field Studies' (2004) and 'Afterwards' (2007).
More Information
For more information see:
