The German House

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Pub Date 12 Dec 2019 | Archive Date 1 Apr 2020
4th Estate | HarperVia

Description

What if everything your family ever told you was a lie?

Frankfurt, 1963 At the war’s end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city’s streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhn, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Jürgen Schoorman, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva’s plans are turned upside down when an American investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial. As she becomes more and more involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family’s silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened? What are they hiding? Does she really love Jürgen and will she be happy as a housewife? Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience, joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice—a decision that will help change her country forever.

What if everything your family ever told you was a lie?

Frankfurt, 1963 At the war’s end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now...


Advance Praise

‘From the first pages The German House creates a movie in the reader’s mind and it doesn’t tear off until the last chapter’ Der Spiegel

‘From the first pages The German House creates a movie in the reader’s mind and it doesn’t tear off until the last chapter’ Der Spiegel


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9780008359881
PRICE £7.99 (GBP)
PAGES 336

Average rating from 45 members


Featured Reviews

I found this book very enjoyable. I have read a lot of WW2 history and fiction set in that period. This story is different in that it deals with the first postwar generation of Germans who were infants during the war and have forgotten what really happened. Their parents have reinvented themselves and their family history. As one character puts it most of Eva's generation act like a bunch of aliens in brown shirts descended on Germany for the duration of WW2 and carried out terrible acts which most Germans were not complicit in. Gradually the main character, Eva begins to question her family's role in the events of WW2 and her memories begin to surface. This is set against the background of the Frankfurt trials which were the first trials set in Germany almost 20 yeas after Nuremburg. The book also deals with the role of women after marriage and the thorny isue of women working outside the home. However I found it difficult to understand the motivation of the older sister Annegret, her boyfriend and the story if David was never resolved properly I felt. All said I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

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