This novel has become famous as one of the most piercingly
intelligent examinations of the dark cloud which still hangs over
Germany - the cloud of guilt for the Holocaust, felt sometimes
unconsciously by a generation whose parents or grandparents were,
however indirectly, involved. After the Second World War, Michael,
a German schoolboy, gets to know a woman bus conductor who seduces
him and leads him into a world of joyous sensuality shadowed only
by the uncertainty of her temper. She encourages him to read to her
- and it is only when he realizes that she is illiterate that their
relationship becomes a little clearer, but not more stable. They
lose touch with each other, and when, as a university student, he
attends a war crimes tribunal, he sees her in the dock. The story
is almost simplistic, the narrative as clear and unsentimental as
the style. The reader is drawn into the story slowly but
powerfully, empathizing strongly with the narrator, Michael. The
way in which he feels his way towards forgiveness not only for his
former mistress, but for himself, is the kernel of an extraordinary
book which weds philosophy and narrative seamlessly, clearly
illuminating the tangled motives which lie behind our ignorance and
our censure. (Kirkus UK)
An exceptionally powerful novel exploring the themes of betrayal,
guilt and memory against the background of the Holocaust. An
international bestseller. For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance
meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever
imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they
embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves
Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems.
Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael
is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The
woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during
the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it
does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime,
she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret. 'A
tender, horrifying novel that shows blazingly well how the
Holocaust should be dealt with in fiction. A thriller, a love story
and a deeply moving examination of a German conscience' INDEPENDENT
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